A cinematic love story is rarely grounded in reality. We see a projection of it, someone else’s idea of what love is. The escapism of boy meets girl, boy loses girl, and then the boy triumphantly wins girl back – is a mundane and trite formula. Angelina Jolie Pitt’s BY THE SEA is a love story that wages war with itself and takes place within the reality of life.
The film spans a few weeks at a villa in France. Roland (Pitt) and Vanessa (Jolie) are married, waging a toxic and a fearless psychological war with one another. Roland drinks all day, desperately seeking inspiration for his next novel while Vanessa bunkers herself within their room and lies comatose in bed on a self medicated mixture of pills and wine.
At this point in their marriage, all is lost, yet they continuously fight for and against one another. Their passion still burns bright, but their hope flickers as each minute of the film passes.
Jolie has become an inspiring vision behind the camera, fluidly crafting her film; using the vulnerability and innocence of 1970’s France as a canvas to showcase such a painfully beautiful film.
BY THE SEA is a clear cut example of a critical and box office failure that eludes the self indulgence of critics and the current cinematic populous with its pulverizing and honest view of love.
Podcasting Them Softly 