Too Much Love Will Kill You

A few days ago we watched Revolutionary Road at last; I think I even mentioned it but I'm not sure. After I had read the book I wanted to watch it and write about it asap but then we never had the mood for it. Too depressing, we thought. Well, it is. Nevertheless, it's a film (and book) one has to deal with.

It is set in the fifties but it focuses on issues that are still intriguing today, most importantly the issue of doing something with your life. Here we go again. Frank Wheeler (DiCaprio) is a young guy who works as a salesman of some kind. April (Kate Winslet) lives the monotonous and demanding life of an American housewife, raising two children, running the household, and wearing high-heels with make up all the time. The conflict comes to surface when April takes part in an amateur theatrical performance which fails blatantly. Verbal aggression, sleeping on the couch, chain-smoking on both part, and similar signs hint at the repressed frustration they have to live with. In other words they are stuck in a life they're not satisfied with. The idea comes from an old photograph, and April suggests that they should (must) move to Paris, which they consider the only place worth living in.
There are several questions that have to be asked here, although answering them seems quite difficult. Firstly, why was their life unlivable? Whose fault was it? Was it because of the children and middle class values implied upon them? Would it have been different if it depended upon the two of them solely? Is there anything that depends upon you alone? Can everyday life kill love? Did they love each other? What is love anyway? You see, the list goes on and on, and these are the questions all of us have to face. I mean, if you are intelligent enough to care. I guess a lot of people don't realize that there's more to life than how they live, and the Wheelers had a similar idea about their neighbors, too. The problem is that all your decisions affect others (e.g. the children), which makes it all harder.
It's not an easy movie to go with your vanilla shake, but a briliant one. Winslet and DiCaprio at their best, with Kathy Bates as an extra. Watch it and think about it.