cohnmartin

Maybe it's not fair for me to review this. Why not? Because my situation is as bad as or, arguably, worse than that of the main character.

I read an article a couple days ago about 'cumulative loss'.

The writer used an image to describe the situation that more than a few find themselves in when losses accumulate, or, as I say, "pile up". That image is one of concentric circles, with the main loss being placed in the middle of the circle, with its spin-off losses orbiting around it, like planets around the sun.

The author of the article suggested that those grieving create a circle for each major loss they are experiencing, or have experienced that is still effecting them.

Losses can be big (the death of a loved one) or, in the eyes of some, small (the loss of a promotion), predictable (the loss of youth or beauty) or less predictable (the loss of trust in one's siblings because they ignored your suicidal brother's pain). What others think doesn't matter; what matters is whether you experience the event as a loss.

When I envision the losses I've gone through over the last four years what I see is a field filled with spinning pinwheels of color and light. Each pinwheel represents a major loss, with the pinwheel's arms, or trailers, that spin about it representing the resultant smaller losses that have arisen from the large, deep one.

There are currently four (possibly five) spinning pinwheels in my image. And numerous little colorful arms spinning around each of the large spinning pinwheels. It's a busy image, colorful too, oddly so for something representing so much pain.

And that's why I can't watch this show right now. It might have been very interesting to me five or more years ago. I might have felt then a bit like a voyeur or an anthropologist watching it. Not that I hadn't experienced grief before that time; I had, but it was in the past, and considerably distant.

But, now, I am too actively grieving to find this interesting. While watching the first episode, I found myself saying, "Nope, that's not how it is for me." In other words, my own experiences are intruding and preventing me from buying into, or believing in, the reality of the imagined world being created.

Not a good place to be in when watching a darkly comic show addressing grief. Not at all.

As many have noted, this series is too long, longer than is needed.

That's not a minor issue in screenwriting, or any writing. My sense is that the writers and director had trouble finding their story. Once they do--about mid-way through--this takes off. True to the advice given to all writers, that is when always sought after CONFLICT develops, when our heroine finds herself in trouble.

Some viewers focus on the age difference between the lovers, but it is alluded to only once or twice in this lovely, sensitive, insightful (albeit too long) piece of filmmaking, and when it is, it is dismissed as insignificant. What is significant in this troubled romance is Jin-a's mother's fierce disapproval of the union.

So on one level, this seems to be a rather typical story of thwarted love. On another level, it's a story of an adult daughter overly invested in parental approval.

But its real meaning lies deeper. This is a story about an aging (Jin-a states that she is 'soon to be forty') woman who still hasn't found her inner will and resilience to buck what she fears that others think of her.

She hasn't, in other words, grown up.

Viewed from this perspective, this tale becomes fascinating and much more moving. Jin-a's difficulties at work, fleshed out in greater detail as the story develops, and the resolve and toughness with which she tackles them is key to understanding what this story is really about.

It's definitely worth viewing. Just be ready for a long ride that picks up steam about mid-way through.

And yes, I agree with others; what in the world were the producers of this series doing with the sound track? The songs are all on point, musically sophisticated and fitting. But, come on, over and over and over??

I seem to be something of an outlier here as I greatly enjoyed this movie!

I found it moving, realistic, well acted, well told, and beautifully photographed and set. I had no issue with the film's pacing, as some apparently have had.

The film focuses solely on Colette's early years as a writer, with the exclusion of its final still frames that fill in Colette's impressive later writing credits, accolades, and awards. Other films made about her have done the same. This is too bad as Colette's most admired and moving work--work that is indeed still read today, contrary to a comment made below--lies ahead in her long life.

I suppose it helps that I have read Colette, admired her for years, know a fair amount of the history and the culture of this time, and that I am what's sometimes called a generous film goer (and reader). By that I mean that I am patient, and do not ask to be 'wowed' continuously. I wish that this were more common today in the arts.

I hope that this film will encourage some who have not read Colette to pick up her work (her later work in particular).

Why the nine, and not ten, stars? I'm not sure. I don't believe I've ever viewed a film that I would give a perfect ten to, and I'm not sure what that would look like!