WARNING: May Contain Spoilers!
While today is May 23rd, it is not a Wednesday but unlike most days this day in particular had an impact on Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) one of the lead characters of the 2009 film (500) Days of Summer directed by Marc Webb. “Most days of the year are unremarkable. They begin, and they end, with no lasting memories made in between. Most days have no impact on the course of a life” but as we retrace moments of a failed romance we tend to hop around between the good and the bad believing all these days had an impact. And for Tom, those 500 days were different. Like Roger Ebert said in his review “People always say “start at the beginning,” but we didn’t know at the time it was the beginning. “500 Days of Summer” is a movie that works that way.” And I couldn’t agree more with that because time and time again we replay these moments in our heads mixing up emotions, feelings and moments. Some people might not like the hopscotching around the happenings of “Day 1” to “Day 500” but for me this gives the viewer a clear line of a start and end for the romance that is about to ensue.
(500) Days of Summer is centered around Tom (Gordon-Levitt), a greeting-card writer and frustrated soon to be aspiring architect who falls head over heels for his boss’ new assistant Summer (Zooey Deschanel). Summer is pragmatic, Tom is a romantic. The film starts with a voiceover stating, “This is not a love story,” and begins at the end of the pair’s relationship recounting the last 290 days (all 500 actually) from Tom’s perspective. We watch as Tom’s subjective recollections paint the world as a vibrant, fun dance number or a gray, hopeless blackhole. In Tom’s eyes, Summer is perfection, but we soon learn that despite the couple’s love for The Smith’s and their ability to make going to IKEA a spectacle to be remember, they are doomed from the start. Even though we might know the fate of these two, (500) Days has a number of great qualities such as the story, soundtrack, score, actor choices, character development and the simple fact that it is an original romantic comedy.
One of the things I love about (500) Days is that it doesn’t make light of what we go through in romantic relationships, but it is real about it and shows it for what it is, which is often misinterpreted or glorified in traditional rom-coms. When we are in love, we believe what we want to believe, and Tom is no different which is another reason why this movie is so appealing. With that we can determine the emotions and moods based on the colors and tones we see throughout the film. On a subconscious level Tom views Summer as his whole world thus it reflected into her being the only character that wears blue, consistently throughout the movie (to match Deschanel’s striking blue eyes). We only see this “rule” broken in the morning after dance scene where everyone is wearing a shade of blue (because he’s projecting his love and happiness of Summer onto the world) and at the end when Summer is wearing shades of green and grey.
But the highlight of the storyline has to be the expectations vs. reality scene. This is juxtaposition between fantasy and reality is exactly what we would do if we ever had the chance to talk/see an ex. I know from experience this is the duality I’ve seen leading up to the moment I walk through the door. Plus, our reactions would be same if we were to see our past significant other with an engagement ring (or knowing they’ve given one). The moment is heartbreaking, and we truly feel for Tom. This scene connects to the overarching theme we see between Summer and Tom. Throughout the film, we are constantly shown scenes with a divide between the pair. Webb and Eric Steelberg (Cinematography) purposefully shot scenes with some sort of line or divide between the couple giving us a hint that the pair will eventually not work out or show that it’s simply not meant to be. While there are a number of scenes beautifully shot to emphasize a hidden meaning, emotions or feelings, this is amplified with the addition of an amazing score and a well thought out soundtrack.
Throughout film history soundtracks and scores have played a pivotal rule in movies such as the score in Gladiator (Hans Zimmer) or the iconic soundtrack of The Graduate. Which does play a role throughout the film, as this movie sets up the character arc for Tom using it as a total misinterpretation of the ending. But “Webb’s use of music, principally pop tunes, is anything but an afterthought, as the carefully chosen songs enhance the atmospheres of scenes and chart the romance’s line graph” (Ordona, LA Times). All things these elements and the choice to pick Deschanel and Gordon-Levitt gives (500) Days of Summer the essence of a modern-day Annie Hall.
Many films today try and recreate the romantic comedy but (500) Days of Summer sets itself apart from the others with tons of energy, wit and the highs and lows of a passionate (failed) romance. With the non-linear narrative structure and the reality that not all relationship are “the one,” we are able to relive our own failed romances and reminisce about those moments and can truly connect to the story happening on the screen.
“There’s no such thing as love. It’s a fantasy.”
Zooey Deschanel, as Summer
Sources of reference:
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/500-days-of-summer-2009
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-jul-17-et-500days17-story.html
The Fade Out: A Movie Blog 