Okay, this is my first post for Thursday Movie Picks that is hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves. If you want to join this blogathon or series, you can visit here. This week theme for Thursday Movie Picks is Unrequited Love.
1. (500) Days of Summer
I bet that most people will have this movie on list of films about unrequited love. After all, (500) Days of Summer is not a love story, but a story about love. But I have to admit that (500) Days of Summer is the first film I think for this theme. We sing, we laugh, and we learn with Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Summer (Zooey Deschanel). Liking the same things isn't a guarantee for eternal love and love can come in the most unexpected time and place. Other than that, (500) Days of Summer shows it's viewers that not all men are heartless and not all women are victims. By the way, I have to personally thank this film for upgrading my music taste :)
2.Fatal Attraction
We all know the feeling of unrequited love, but most of us don't have extreme experience like Fatal Attraction. Dan (Michael Douglas) decides to have a little fling with Alex (Glenn Close) after his family are out of town in weekend. Dan is a dick, but his loyalty still lies to his family. Dan thinks that as an adult, Alex can accept the fact. Unfortunately, Alex has fallen too deep for Dan. For me, Fatal Attraction shows that you should check someone's mentality before you have a relationship with them. And just because you see something as a little part of yourself, the other person doesn't always see it with your eyes.
I understand that what Alex feels for Dan is not love, but this film is too amazing to be missed!
3. Almost Famous
Rock n roll, drugs, alcohol, chicks, and sex. Almost Famous screams all of those things but bless Cameron Crowe for making those things into a fun, warm, and bittersweet experience. William Miller (Patrick Fugit) is a one of those virgin geek who loves rock. He goes to see his favorite band's concert but he ends up seeing Penny Lane (Kate Hudson), who introduces him to Russell Hammond (Billy Crudup), who is a member of Stillwater. Will is a given a task by Rolling Stone Magazine to write about Stillwater. As Will follows Stillwater, he experiences losing virginity, falling in love, and betrayal.
Both William and Penny's love is unrequited. Both of their love is somewhat pure and sincere, Penny is clueless about Russell's true nature and undependable, while Will knows that he is not the right guy for Penny but Penny can always depend on him. It is not the freshest contrast, but still a good one.
Honorable mention: 5 Centimeters per Second
5 Centimeters per Second is perhaps the only anime that really shows the bitterness of unrequited love, helplessness of obstacles on our way, and the difficulty of moving on. Even though 5 Centimeters per Second contains sad and sappy things, the animation is so beautiful and breathtaking enough that it's worth to buy a box of tissue. Kanae tells us that knowing the true feeling of your crush is not always satisfying, Tono tells us that being haunted by memories is useless, and Akari tells us that in the end we have to move on.
P.S: I personally think that 5 centimeters per second is a bit boring, haha.
