Since the first scenes of ‘We Live in Time‘, the 2024 film by the Irish director John Crowley, I had a feeling of ‘déjà vu’. After about a quarter of an hour in the movie, I suddenly remembered. Of course, I had seen a similar movie before, a romantic story about a young and handsome man who loves a young and beautiful woman, a story in which the two face hardships because of those around them, in which their love overcomes all obstacles until they are hit by the serious illness that risks taking the life of the young and beautiful heroine. The film – directed by Arthur Hiller – was called ‘Love Story’ and was written by Erich Segal. Released in parallel with the novel of the same name, it enjoyed enormous success. The year was 1970. I was 17 when I saw ‘Love Story’, now I’m 71. How do the two films compare? ‘We Live in Time‘ uses exactly the same romantic melodrama formula and the main characters are very similar in typology. I think what deeply moved me then works well now – a love story written honestly and intelligently and well served by a couple of handsome, talented and well-cast actors.
If the formula, theme and main characters are similar, the narrative structures of the two films are very different. For about two-thirds of ‘We Live in Time‘ the script written by Nick Payne lets viewers witness a sequence of episodes that take place over several years and are presented in seemingly random order, requiring the reconstruction in the mind of spectators of the love story between Tobias and Almut. The meeting between them happens as in the movies: he is almost newly divorced and wanders at dawn on a highway in a hotel bathrobe, she runs over him with a car. The pieces of the puzzle fit together and the picture we reconstruct is that of a love story between two of the nicest and most attractive young people we’ve seen on screens lately. To formalize the relationship in a marriage, to have children or not, to succeed in their respective professions (she is a very talented Michelin-starred chef) – everything is approached with love and humor. When the so often merciless disease strikes, Tobias and Almut will try to deal with it in the same way, but how far can living lives to the fullest postpone the blows of fate? The final part of the film uses linear narrative, building a crescendo towards a somewhat expected ending.
From 1970 to 2024, mainstream cinema had time to accept scenes with nudity and sex only to kind of abandon them in the name of a new yet unwritten code of decency. John Crowley reintroduces them without hesitation, integrates them well into the plot and adds a dramatic childbirth scene. I have nothing but praise for the two actors who play the lead roles with talent and intensity. Andrew Garfield builds the character of a charming and sensitive man, radiating empathy and with a sense of humor present at all times. Florence Pugh is strong and beautiful, and very well embodies the dilemma of the women who succeed in their professions, but for this they must constantly adjust the balance between their professional lives and their feelings. I would have liked the script writer and director to have described her culinary creations in more detail, and not just because I’m a fan of movies with and about food, but it would have given more motivation to the decisions made by the chef character at key moments. I also want to mention the appearance of Lee Braithwaite in a debut role on the screens, with a special physiognomy and expressiveness. ‘We Live in Time‘ proves that well-written and well-made films that express feelings and emotions honestly and authentically have a chance in any era of cinema history.