A-Z Movies: (500) Days of Summer

Last week, I watched one of my absolute favorite films of all time, (500) Days of Summer. Little did I know I was embarking on a journey that would give me a front seat to the lives of complete strangers in all sorts of places. I love movies so much, so I have decided to share my collection from A to Z and let you know why each film has earned a position on my ikea book shelf.

Image from here

(500) Days of Summer, for those who are unaware, is "not a love story, but it is a story about love." This may sound confusing, but the movie illustrates this phenomenon so beautifully. The story is about Tom, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Summer, played by Zooey Deschanel. Their characters are so well developed that I truly believe they have been derived from real people, with whom I hope to befriend in some alternate universe. The movie time travels, in a sense, through the 500 days of Tom and Summer's interactions with each other. The way the story is told is innovative and pulls the audience into the movie so much that it feels almost as if it is not a story, but a recollection of past moments and relationships in the viewer's real life.

Most can relate to one of the two main characters more than the other. Summer is portrayed at the start as someone who lives, and loves for that matter, in the moment. The narrator says that Summer loved two things, "The first was her long brown hair. The second was how easily she could cut it off and not mean a thing." Summer believes that relationships always end in hardship for both parties.

Unlike Summer's belief about relationships, Tom has always believed that contentment is found in the perfect woman. He lives his life looking for "the one," and won't be happy until he is with her. When he meets Summer, he thinks this happiness will finally be achieved. I can't go on to spoil anything, though I desperately want to.

The movie sends me on an emotional ride every time I watch it. I simply become so involved in the lives of Summer and Tom, that empathy for the two of them pours out of my pores. The cinematography, the story, the acting and the writing are so phenomenally breathtaking. I could go on for days and give away every stitch of this story, but I wouldn't be doing it justice. This is not a movie that can be explained, or even watched. It has to be experienced. ADD IT TO THE NETFLIX QUEUE THIS VERY MINUTE. (I feel very strongly about it)

Thanks for reading.
More to come,

Hannah