Fool For Love (1985)
"Fool For Love” focuses on May and Eddie, former lovers who have met again in a motel in the desert. Eddie surprisingly shows up at a motel where May is staying, and May just doesn’t seem to know how she feels about it. On one hand, she seems to hate him, and expresses her feelings to him clearly. On the other hand, she wants him to stay, as she goes after him every time he tries to leave. The film focuses on the couple’s past and present relationship, and the dark secret that includes one old man who lives near the motel.
In the opening scene, the camera captures the old man sitting in a rocking chair next to a bottle of whiskey from distance. The camera slowly zooms on him, and then shows his surroundings from far, in a way that makes him look small in a big empty world. The shots captured the small wrack motel, and everything that surrounded that motel. The viewers were able to see and understand that the motel was practically empty. When Eddie finds May, she tries to hide from him. When they finally meet again, it is clear that both May and Eddie have feelings for each other. Although the viewers did not know at first the status of their relationship, and how they are not together now anymore, it is clear through their dialog and behavior that they share a history together, as well as the fact that he might have cheated on her. May accuses Eddie of having a little fling with someone called “the countess.” The camera never truly shows him with that woman, but periodically throughout the movie, viewers hear of her repeatedly.
The old man is drinking tequila while watching Eddie and May yelling, fighting, slapping and kissing. There was a scene of him observing May and Eddie where the camera shows his reaction to their every move and conversation. Sometimes, the old man seems amused by them, especially when they slap each other. At other times, he seems upset. The old man just observes everything quietly. In that same scene, I did not understand what was happening, May and Eddie were fighting outside the motel, a car stops near them. The viewers see a woman with a man and a child, the old man is there too. But May and Eddie are still fighting and did not even pay attention to those people. These individuals looked as if they did not see or hear the couple fight. They just come and go. At that point, I started anticipating that there was a twist coming up.
The old man appears everywhere the couple goes, the viewers see him speaking to Eddie and then to May. However, when he spoke to May, he told her a story about a time when he, May’s mother, and baby May were driving, and May would not stop crying. While he was telling her the story, the camera shows us what he was talking about. The camera walks the viewers through that story. In that scene, the viewers were told and showed that the old man is not just an observer, but he is also May’s father. Then, a car arrives and blows up Eddie’s truck, and that is when the viewers see the countess. Another car arrives but this time with May’s date, Martin. He thinks May is being attacked by Eddie, and he jumps and throws Eddie to the ground. May breaks up the fight and introduces Eddie as her cousin. Eddie and Martin talk while May is in the bathroom, and Eddie reveals that May is his half-sister. The old man is there too, and every time he talks to one of the characters, he is being ignored. That indicated that maybe he is not physically present. When May walks in on them, she is angry because Eddie talked to Martin without her. They both end up telling their side of the story, inviting viewers to see those places as well, through their telling. The camera shows their past and what really happened while they are talking. May ends the story by saying that when her mother tried to stop Eddie and May from having a sexual relationship, Eddie’s mother shot herself in the head. Though, the old man talked to the characters, he only exists In May and Eddie’s minds.
All the characters in this movie were quite believable. Their acting skills, dialogs and the overall story kept viewers interested until the end. Although the film lacked some background information, camera work showed details helping watchers understand the plot without words. The music in this movie was also consistent with this couple’s love story. Every time they kissed or looked at each other with love, a romantic music would play. The place where the movie took place helped show that the story only focuses on those characters and no one else. Their tones and the way the characters looked were consistent with the location and the surroundings of the motel. May’s facial expressions and emotions expressed her deepest feelings through camera. Her love and fear of being abandoned again is clear on her face. Eddie’s emotions also were well presented through camera, although May yells at him and even kicks him, he manages to keep his emotions and love for May obvious on his face. The old man’s character is my favorite, because he only observes and intervenes when he is needed. He is a perfect addition to the story.
In the end, “Fool For Love” is a movie with an undeniable match of its story to its title. May is afraid of being fooled by Eddie again. As he had hurt her once before. Her father also abandoned her and her mother, and that is why she has abandonment issues. I think that the movie focuses on May, Eddie and the old man equally. Each one of them completes the story and the missing information that the movie showed and presented through the camera work. I also think that this movie is not a comedy or a thriller. Rather it is a drama. It is a story of how abandonment affects people. Therefore, I agree with this statement by Noel Murray, “The Fool For Love DVD adds an interview with Altman and a written statement in which he explains that though some people have seen Fool For Love as a comedy or a thriller, that was never his vision for it.”
References
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/fool-for-love-1985
https://film.avclub.com/fool-for-love-1798199577
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/fool-for-love-1985
https://film.avclub.com/fool-for-love-1798199577