MovieChat Forums > The Bridges of Madison County (1995) Discussion > Something New

Something New

posted 9 years ago by Pinkdaisy678
2 replies | jump to latest

Random thoughts here....

1) It is something new and exciting and unknown. Was it really Robert she was in love with or the whole situation - talking, he makes her laugh, he helps cook etc. I'm sure it's been talked about before but as I rewatch I want to ponder some more. She doesn't know any of Roberts bad habits yet, nothing. All the things that make real relationships "real." It seems to be more of the idea than the actual person....

2) it's always "the boring marriage." What marriage is all fun and excitement? Life isn't that way how can a marriage be? The affair is the classic fantasy of "something new and fun and better than what you have" Maybe when the family came home from the fair she could have tried to spice it up?

Wouldn't life have been "hard" with Robert too? Constant traveling can be just as bad as being stuck in one place. No comforts of home, no roots, exhaustion etc. I imagine Robert would be off in a jungle somewhere and Francesca would be back at the hotels figuring out dinner, etc. it wouldn't be all glamour. Kinda like how so many celebrities get divorced with all the money, private planes, jet setting to tropical places. Anything can eventually take its toll.

[–] Holloway_Harris 9 years ago

Was it really Robert she was in love with or the whole situation - talking, he makes her laugh, he helps cook etc.

I'm sure it was something like that. I love the movie but it is such a fantasy. That level of romance cannot be sustained on an everyday level. She did the right thing....not only for the sake of her children, but to keep their romance a perfect ideal.

[–] redban (6207) 4 years ago

#1. ... that’s a question the movie really pushes. Did she really love Robert; or did she just love the excitement of an extramarital affair, the juxtaposition of this photojournalist who has traveled all over the world vs her boring husband / boring life in Iowa; the guy who has entertaining conversations with her vs the family that hardly talks to her?

I think she didn’t really love Robert more than she just hated her current life and her current marriage. Realistically, people don’t fall in love legitimately in just four days, and as you note, she didn’t really know the dude fully.

During the candlelit dinner scene, she expresses her belief that the relationship won’t stay the same once they leave together. What they had in those four days was not something that was going to be there always.