Ben Lossie

My 500th diary entry this year!! The WORST goodbye EVER😭💔 ‘This can’t last. This misery can’t last’ For quite some time I had contemplated on what my 500th watch of the year should be, because I felt like It should serve justice to the cinematic journey I’ve been trough this year, and reflect my love for cinema. Now there were countless options– as my taste and deception of cinema had changed quite a lot troughout the year. Wether It was Chinese melodramas with an industrial backdrop climbing up their way In my top 3, or my discovery and growing affections towards silent cinema– there’s a lot of films out there that’ve shaped me to the person I am today.  One of the most significant events that redefined my taste in cinema– or rather expanded it– was the ‘Og Hollywood Week’ challenge. This was a challenge where over the course of a week I would watch one Hollywood classic– as I had barely seen any!! And well, I felt like I had been missing out all those time Instantly. The stand out of that week rather, was by accident, when I made a miscalculation and I thought this film was supposed to be the last one, eventough I had already finished the challenge. Best mistake I ever made at that time. Watching this for the first time at that time left a big impact on me. I was so impressed by the simple elegance of this film. A film so simple, yet so beautiful. Definitely a milestone in my cinematic journey, and therefore I decided to rewatch this film as my 500th this year.  The same way my taste has changed quite a lot throughout the year, my way of rating films and simply handig out 5 stars to every film has changed as well. So beforehand I already had a strong feeling that this wouldn’t hold up as good as before. And eventough It’s not a clear 5/5 anymore, It absolutely held up better than expected.  From the very first scene I was Immediately reminded why I once fell In love with this film. I remember the first time I watched the opening scene– immediately beginning with that painful goodbye, with the goddamn hand on her shoulder, I thought It looked rather dull. By the end of the film– when that exact same scene came on again, I was left devastated. What can I say, such a beautiful and elegant opening scene. Especially the monologue on the train journey home shortly after was just beautiful. I just love when films opens with the films ending, and the rest of the film leading up to that point. It truly elevates the films structure and plot to another level– and this film was no different. That beautiful momentum kept on for quite some time. I find It hard to find the right words to describe It, but the film was just so beautiful. It captured the elegance of simplicity like no ever film ever did, the elegance of falling in love.  Once they had fallen In love, the movie collapsed a bit to be honest. It kinda lost its elegant uniqueness, and felt like the average romcom, which didn’t particularly fit my interest. I felt the same way of the melancholic aspect of this film. Don’t get me wrong, It was really good, and absolutely uplifted the atmosphere, but I feel like It was either too short to truly capture the duality of secret, forbidden love, or too over exaggerated, which kinda consumed the film’s simplicity, which is what makes it so good at certain parts. This is also immediately the reasons why the film’s missing out on that final 0.5 to make a perfect 5/5. It fortunately redeemed itself again later on tho😁💪. I also want to take time to praise Celia Johnson’s performance in this film– because it was easily one of the best I’ve ever seen. Her facial expression and body language acting made her character feel so alive. There was just something special about here in this film. She has the same special talent that silent film actors had, that same ability to say more with her eyes than words could ever say. You could exactly see when she first fell in love with him, just by her eyes, without anything being said. So impressive.90/100