SYNOPSICS
The Way We Were (1973) is a English,French movie. Sydney Pollack has directed this movie. Barbra Streisand,Robert Redford,Bradford Dillman,Lois Chiles are the starring of this movie. It was released in 1973. The Way We Were (1973) is considered one of the best Drama,Romance movie in India and around the world.
The often unlikely joint lives of Katie Morosky and Hubbell Gardiner from the late 1930s to the late 1950s is presented, over which time, they are, in no particular order, strangers, acquaintances, friends, best friends, lovers and adversaries. The unlikely nature of their relationship is due to their fundamental differences, where she is Jewish and passionate about her political activism both in political freedoms and Marxism to an extreme where she takes life a little too seriously, while he is the golden boy WASP, being afforded the privileges in life because of his background but who on the most part is able to capitalize on those privileges. Their lives are shown in four general time periods, in chronological order when they attend the same college, their time in New York City during WWII, his life as a Hollywood screenwriter post-war, and his life as a writer for a New York based live television show. It is during college that Hubbell finds his voice in life as a writer, and ...
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The Way We Were (1973) Reviews
Epic and anchored by the history of the century.
Oh, the way they used to make movies. Robert Redford and Babs. The ultimate star-crossed lovers, him a privileged golden boy for whom everything came too easy, but he knew it, and her a socialist politico who had to work harder for everything because she was plain, jewish, and poor. Through Beekman Place, McCarthyism, Hollywood, World War II and the fact that they simply weren't cut out for each other, they tried until they couldn't try any more. Barbra is deep and intellectual, at least she wants to be, but ends up being the ultimate drama queen, "I'm not pretty enough for you, am I?" and "Nobody will ever love you like I do." Redford is aloof and chilly and beautiful and as shallow as a mud puddle. BUT, if you can watch that last scene, "I can't Katie." "I know." and not open up the waterworks then pack up your DVD player and give it to the Goodwill, because movies are not for you. Epic and anchored by the history of the century, The title, The Way We Were refers to all of us. It's how we once were when things mattered and we cared. Too often dismissed as a chick flick or a tear jerker, this is two of the best there ever were at their personal best.
One of the best movies of the 70s.......
Contains Spoiler I read some of the comments registered here on The Way We Were and felt I needed to add my comments. First of all, I think a lot of people are viewing this movie through politically correct, 21st century eyes. Comments have been made about Redford's character "abandoning" his kid after he splits with Streisand's character at the end of the movie. However, the movie implies that Streisand's character moves from California back to New York while Redford's character stays in sunny Hollywood. If this were the case, back in the 1940s it was not as common for people to hop on a plane going from coast to coast. It would not be uncommon at that time for a woman to remarry (which Streisand's character does) and have her new husband basically raise the kid. Especially if the natural father was (as in this case) across the other side of the country. Societal customs were much different than they are now concerning extended families and such. The two sides of the country also represent the main characters. Sunny, beautiful, extroverted, physically inclined Hollywood (Redford) on the west coast and the grayer, more complex, intellectually inclined New York on the east coast (Streisand). I'm also surprised at the comments regarding the characters motivations in finding the other attractive. I thought the movie made it very clear & believable. Both characters are acutely aware of their projected image to others and both characters feel trapped by these labels. This is something very significant that they share which bonds them. Redford's character chafes at his pretty boy image yet is at the same time uncomfortable in the role of writer. When his short story is read in class, he is visibly uncomfortable yet still wants the approval of his classmates. Redford's character wants to be strong yet have a vulnerable artistic side appreciated. So too is Streisand hampered by her image as an intellectual, wise cracking, thick skinned rebel. She, unconsciously perhaps, longs for a man to treat her gently, appreciate her as something more than a spokesperson, more as a unique person, a woman. Each of the characters tentatively pin pricks the other's exterior reserve. Redford by trying to make Streisand smile, relax, not take life so seriously and Streisand by trying to make Redford feel respected and have his writing valued. Each receives from the other something most people won't give them. Streisand is made to feel beautiful and interesting and sexy and something more than just her political beliefs while Streisand lets Redford know that beneath the blond surfer boy looks she sees depth and integrity. The movie also deals with culture clashes within society. Redford's character is the classic White Anglo Saxon Protestant upper class while Streisand the lower class ethnic, non-Christian. That they even consider forging a relationship between the two of them would have raised eyebrows at the time. I'm surprised (though perhaps I missed it) that no one commented on two of the films most famous lines. In an argument near the end of the movie Redford & Streisand battle it out with Redford declaring that people are more important than principles with Streisand answering back that people are their principles. I agree with many that this is one of the best movies to come out of Hollywood in the 1970s. I think both lead actors were perfectly cast and the period feeling of the WWII era is beautifully rendered. There are many wonderful "moments" throughout the film. The scene where Redford is out in the ocean on a small sailboat with his good friend and the two are playing the "best ever" game. When the friend calls out the category as year and Redford starts identifying first one year then another then another as his best or favorite years the viewer knows without being told that the years he's listing are his years he's spent with Streisand. The camera records Redford's bittersweet face and pulls back, showing the friend on the boat silently witnessing his friend's pain, then the camera pulls back in a helicopter shot showing the boat being bounced on the waves. It's an extraordinarily poignant moment in film. As mentioned in other reviews, the shots of Streisand brushing back Redford's hair off his forehead are sexy and intimate without being graphic. Another moment I love is near the end of the film and Streisand says to Redford wouldn't it be wonderful if the two of them were old and they would have survived all of this. Again, with brilliantly written dialogue and performed by professionals the movie accomplishes much depth without resorting to histrionics. I think it's a very romantic film along the lines of Casablanca and Gone With The Wind and Brief Encounter. I say, rent the film, don't try to over analyze it, just relax on the couch either by yourself or with your partner and just enjoy an old fashioned story of boy meets girl, boy woos girl, boy loses girl in the end.
Hollywood schmaltz or deeply felt love story?
Actually, "The Way We Were" is both, and happily so. It's a classy romantic period drama about a 1940s wallflower in New York who blooms in love with her ex-jock boyfriend (an old acquaintance from their college days), and the movie overflows with star-power. None of today's celebrities have the kind of chemistry Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford bring to the screen, and Streisand in particular is so deeply into this character that the herky-jerky editing and breathless writing don't harm her or get in the way (the faults can easily be overlooked). When writer Redford adapts his novel into a screenplay and the couple marries and moves to Hollywood in the McCarthy-Blacklist era, her passion for politics gets them both in hot water; that's where this script hits a snag, with increasingly melodramatic plotting (Redford's affair with a former flame) and confusion in the character motivations (this primarily due to hasty, eleventh-hour editing). Still, it is a handsomely-produced movie with a great tearjerker ending and two fine stars who plow right through the nonsense and bumpy continuity. They transcend the make-believe surroundings, turning the picture into something really special, something to remember. ***1/2 from ****
Beautiful movie
I think the word for this movie is, gorgeous. Nothing I've seen (I haven't seen a lot, but still) has compared to the chemistry, the depth of feeling, and the realistic portrayal of two opposites both beautiful in their own right. This movie is a testament to the way we were really, how it was beautiful to be decadent and disgusting in the thriving 50's, of the attractive "waspishness" of Ivy leaguers, of politics and war. The movie is not dated either, its quality making it appealing to a whole spectrum of people who would normally not be interested in something this good. I first saw this movie in a history class and to my surprise most of the people in the class loved it, people who would normally go see "Titanic" and rave about it for days. I think that is, if not something else, at least evidence of this movie's depth, quality, feeling, (and although very sentimental) realism. If you enjoy the finer things in life, dim the lights, fix yourself a vodka martini straight up, and watch "The Way We Were".
When political commitment was stronger than personal commitment
Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford look wonderful in this great story of doomed love. Character development (or arc) is supposed to be one of the basic elements of a good screenplay; but the whole point of Sydney Pollack's 1973 movie is that neither Katie Moroski nor Hubbell Gardner changes. She remains the serious-minded Jewish left-wing activist, and he the easy-going, politically uncommitted WASP, they are when they first meet in college in 1937. Fascinated with each other precisely because they are such opposites, they have an affair, marry and have a baby; but their inability to compromise - or in his case to stop compromising - leads to break-up. The main action spans the eventful decade from the Spanish Civil War and New Deal, through WWII, to the McCarthy era, by which time Katie and Hubbell have moved from New York to Hollywood, where he is a screenwriter. Though melodramatic and sketchy, the political dimension of the story should not be underestimated; this is one of the very rare American movies in which a communist is treated sympathetically. Presumably much of this side of the scenario stemmed from the personal experience of writer Arthur Laurents, who was the same age as his protagonists, and who had McCarthy-related problems. Both stars are perfect for their roles; we can see what they see in each other; and we desperately want it to work for them, though we know it won't! Notable in support are Bradford Dillman, Lois Chiles, and James Woods. The theme song, emotionally delivered by Streisand as only she can, is beautiful, but the relevance of its nostalgic lyric to this clear-eyed movie is doubtful.