This is a great monodrama by Jean Cocteau that brings out the insecurities that all human beings face in their lives, especially as we approach middle age. The desperation of losing a loved one, the challenge of facing a lonely & purposeless life; & the agony that comes with the realization that you have been replaced by another are all depicted very precisely.
Our protagonist is a middle aged woman whose ex-lover is getting married to another woman on the morrow. She's depressed, suicidal & the telephone seems to be her only connection with her lost love. The telephone is both her salvation as well as the instrument of her destruction. All through the film, she's either on the phone or imploring it to ring but there's just one person that she wants to receive a call from & no one else. She's alone except for a dog whose unconditional love could have been her saving grace, but unfortunately, the dog also loves the ex-lover. The dog growls at our protagonist because he feels that she is responsible for his abandonment too. At one point, she & her ex-lover even try to foist off the dog on to each other. Apparently, her ex-lover was much younger than her. So, her family & friends found it hard to understand their relationship. And in her insecurity, instead of trying to make them see her point, she drove them all away by ignoring them. She's so in love with her ex-lover that when his roommate offers her his friendship, she turns him down, even though she admits that they get along well. Her ex-lover wants all his letters back but how can the poor woman give up those precious words that he wrote her when he too was in love with her? Losing those letters would be as if their love never existed. Therefore, she requests her lover to send her the ashes of those letters after he burns them.
The viewer can clearly see that she is not a manipulative woman, but she is a very unfortunate woman. She understands that her ex-lover is no longer in love with her & she doesn't try to make him feel guilty about it. She even admits that their breakup was her own fault. Moreover, to assuage his conscience, she lies to him in the beginning about going out & having eaten properly. However, towards the end, so acute is her desperation that she confides in him about her utter devastation in the face of their separation.
Ingrid Bergman was an amazing actress & this wonderful movie has only fortified my beliefs regarding her acting prowess. All through the movie she portrayed all the emotion with so much sincerity that you feel her character's plight very acutely. Particularly moving scenes include those where she is pained by the fact that he is staying over at his new fiancee's place & lying to her about it, & the one in the end where she realizes that this might be their last conversation.
Our protagonist is a middle aged woman whose ex-lover is getting married to another woman on the morrow. She's depressed, suicidal & the telephone seems to be her only connection with her lost love. The telephone is both her salvation as well as the instrument of her destruction. All through the film, she's either on the phone or imploring it to ring but there's just one person that she wants to receive a call from & no one else. She's alone except for a dog whose unconditional love could have been her saving grace, but unfortunately, the dog also loves the ex-lover. The dog growls at our protagonist because he feels that she is responsible for his abandonment too. At one point, she & her ex-lover even try to foist off the dog on to each other. Apparently, her ex-lover was much younger than her. So, her family & friends found it hard to understand their relationship. And in her insecurity, instead of trying to make them see her point, she drove them all away by ignoring them. She's so in love with her ex-lover that when his roommate offers her his friendship, she turns him down, even though she admits that they get along well. Her ex-lover wants all his letters back but how can the poor woman give up those precious words that he wrote her when he too was in love with her? Losing those letters would be as if their love never existed. Therefore, she requests her lover to send her the ashes of those letters after he burns them.
The viewer can clearly see that she is not a manipulative woman, but she is a very unfortunate woman. She understands that her ex-lover is no longer in love with her & she doesn't try to make him feel guilty about it. She even admits that their breakup was her own fault. Moreover, to assuage his conscience, she lies to him in the beginning about going out & having eaten properly. However, towards the end, so acute is her desperation that she confides in him about her utter devastation in the face of their separation.
Ingrid Bergman was an amazing actress & this wonderful movie has only fortified my beliefs regarding her acting prowess. All through the movie she portrayed all the emotion with so much sincerity that you feel her character's plight very acutely. Particularly moving scenes include those where she is pained by the fact that he is staying over at his new fiancee's place & lying to her about it, & the one in the end where she realizes that this might be their last conversation.