Fiction is a deliberately slow-paced film about relationships. What is really honourable about the film is that it is not just about one-on-one type relationships but rather the larger picture encompassing family and friends. There is no doubt the Alex (?) (the protagonist, filmmaker) is passionately attracted to Monica (the violinist) as one learns much later on, however, that is not the point. There is a scene when the couple is hiking and she says to Alex, if your fictional characters were here (on this mountain top) right now what would they be doing? They would be lost in their own thoughts or world, he responds. And that is what this couple is about: they are attracted and feel extremely close, but their thoughts are preoccupied by their respective families. Alex and Monica are, and that is the central dialogue in the film, deeply invoked in their own relationships. Thus Gay makes it quite clear that life is multi-tiered and that there are consequences to unbridled passion. However, this reality does not preclude the possibility of desire and attraction. In other words the whole pace of the film is deliberate and reflects the inner feelings of the characters that are being worked out between themselves, through the other characters in the film and of course within the bucolic setting. Not a great film, but well worth the taking the time to watch and understand.
