A Thin line between, Beloved
For those who do not care about manner
I do not know why French is used as synonym for being cool. There should be misunderstanding and mouse of the strange term ‘cool’ and all French I have ever known would agree that the word designating their nationality could not always be considered identical to being cool. French people are as much liberal as others are, as much conservative as others are and as human-like as we all are. This is just a matter of possibility, or a matter of personal tendency; not a matter of innate ethnicity.
It would be very absurd to describe the people appearing in <Beloved> as cool. They do make love without timely and spatial consideration, have an affair with implicit concord and fall in love with anybody they bump into. I do not think it is the director’s intention to persuade the audience of characters being cool. Most of characters in the film behave unconvincingly. This film mainly deals with two dramatic personae, mother and daughter starring respectively Ludivine Sagnier/Catherine Deneuve and Chiara Mastroianni, falling in love with anybody whom they literally can love. As it is heard in Ludivine Sagnier’s song, they want to love someone until everything breaks inevitably. Namely they do not believe in durability, not to mention eternity and patience.
A young woman who had worked as a shopgirl fell in love with exiled doctor and left alone only with young baby. While her baby being grown up, she cannot help but being dragged to her ex-husband. It is not that different for her daughter, Chiara Mastroianni, and she also gives her attention in a scattered manner. These much-ado-nothing things end quite abruptly. With unexpected death and fare-well, there is nothing left but futile regret and wounded hearts of surroundings. It seems certain that they have nothing done wrong, but they could have done better; there should been a better way, more appropriate and timely manner, considerate and patient alternatives.
Briefly, <Beloved> describes men and women desperate for immediate loneliness forcing them to make inconsiderate decisions. Such behaviors could harm the others but they do not have much room because of their crave for being loved. It is so natural for everyone to desire love, affection and even mere pleasure, however vain and inconsistent. And yet, such behavior must accompany the cost of profound repent. What if they drew a line between love and crave more concretely? What if they cared just a bit more about the durability of affection, rather than instantaneity of delight? Everyone who was so desperate and so “untimely” is again being left alone. C’est pas cool to be alone, wounded and hurt.
