[Last Film I Saw] Somewhere in Time (1980) [6/10]
Title: Somewhere in Time
Year: 1980
Country: USA
Language: English
Genre: Romance, Fantasy, Drama
Director: Jeannot Szwarc
Writers: Richard Matheson
Music: John Barry
Cinematography: Isidore Mankofsky
Cast:
Christopher Reeve
Jane Seymour
Christopher Plummer
Teresa Wright
Bill Erwin
George Voskovec
Susan French
John Alvin
William H. Macy
George Wendt
Rating: 6/10
A love story transcends time and beyond, what if you and your significant other are not in the same timeline? SOMEWHERE IN TIME tells a tale of this sort, Chicago 1972, a budding playwright Richard Collier (Reeve) receives a pocket watch from an old lady he has never met before, who asks him “come back to me”. 8 years later, Richard found out she was a famous stage Actress Elise McKenna, and passed away the night they met. Obsessed with her portrait in Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Michigan, Richard opts for self-hypnosis to time-travel to 1912, when young Elise (Seymour) is going to perform in the theatre of the hotel.
The film is romantic to its bones, even too much by today’s criterion, love can conquer anything is the eternal leitmotif, when they meet for the very first time in 1912, instantly she blurts “is it you?”, as if she knows his side of story perfectly, and she has been waiting for him because they are destined to be together no matter what. But director Jeannot Szwarc decisively steers clear of the fantasy element, Elise’s reaction is purely out of woman’s sixth sense, and her over-protective manager William (Plummer) is pitched as the villain to debar their time-defying love. The debacle is a piece of cake in any rate (Reeve has the physique of a superman and he is madly in love with her and vice versa), they could be stay happily for ever, but the predictable separation expectedly occurs during their merriest moment over a minor incidence, Richard is dragged back to 1980, but he is unable to turn back time again, this star-crossed lovers finally reunite in the blessing heaven. It is mawkish but not entirely untenable, whenever one anticipates the plot is going a slightly annoying and tedious with its routinely corny dialogue, John Barry’s empowering score turns the tide around and in all of a sudden, it becomes bearable and even marginally heartfelt to the purity of their love.
Reeve, takes off his superman caper and successfully transformed into a period gentleman emanates all the necessary debonair and appropriate decorum, while Seymour is a natural beauty in her zenith, they are remarkably well-matched and made for each other, effortlessly our compassion to the lovebirds seethes when Plummer’s malignancy comes to stand in the way, very accurate cast indeed.
SOMEWHERE IN TIME owns its classic status by being an anomaly in the science fiction genre and at the same time, it is completely irrelevant to any gimmicks contingent on pricey special effects. Its alluring premise of the fatalistic romanticism could be someone’s cup of tea, but I doubt its impact could percolate into a wider demography with time goes by. An updated remake may sound opportune as it seems the 80s-revamp fad is on fire now in Hollywood.
any discussion here?
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