Thursday Movie Picks: May-December Romance

The Valentines edition of Thursday Movie Picks continues! This weekly event is hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves so if you're interested, go and check out her blog and the entries of other participants. For this week, it's all about May-December romances. Here are my picks this week:

Sayuri/Chiyo and the Chairman, Memoirs of a Geisha

The whole film chronicles Chiyo’s journey to becoming a geisha and fulfilling her ultimate goal: to be with the Chairman. She meets the Chairman when she was a young girl, and he was very nice and pleasant to her. Their story is born out of hardships and chances, with Sayuri (her geisha name) being determined to get closer to the Chairman. Their age difference doesn’t really play a role here; her strong admiration for the Chairman has developed into love after many years. 


Maria and Captain Von Trapp, The Sound of Music

The age difference also doesn’t play a factor here, as we all know this ends happily for them, relationship-wise. Maria is the new governess of the von Trapp household, and manages to win the hearts of the children and the Captain when she brought music and laughter back into the house. Their scenes together had so much tension, especially the dance in the courtyard. 


Mary and Dr. Mierzwiak, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Now this is a relationship that doesn’t end in good terms. Mary works as a secretary for the Doctor and has developed a massive crush on him. However, she finds out in the end that they used to have an affair, and that she had asked him to erase all their memories together, to forget about the pain. Mary’s scenes are about as heartbreaking as Joel and Clementine’s.

21 comments:

  1. Man, I totally forgot about the doc and Mary in Eternal Sunshine. Great call! Liked, didn't love Memoirs. Sadly, I have never bothered with The Sound of Music. I know.

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    1. I found the age difference in Memoirs really weird, Ken Watanabe doesn't age at all.

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  2. Memoirs of a Geisha was such a beautifully shot film. I didn't care for The Sound of Music but loved Eternal Sunshine, even though I'm so not okay with what Mary ends up doing at the end.

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    1. I don't think what she did was necessary, but it might have been an eye opener for the people affected as her attraction for the doctor and the subsequent events that happened afterwards say a lot about relationships.

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  3. LOVE that you went with ESotSM...such a mind f*ck of a movie, and Wilkinson's character is so perverse and so complex. Excellent choice that one doesn't immediately think of.

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  4. LOVE the mention of Sound of Music. I considered it but I picked it for one of these in the past. Never thought of that in Eternal Sunshine but it totally works. LOVE Mary's storyline in that masterpiece.

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    1. I liked her story line as well; it's rare for movies to have a subplot that also has a lot of meaning.

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  5. Great picks! I liked Memoirs of a Geisha but I loved Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. To be honest I would have never thought of it, probably because when I think of it I think of Joel and Clementine.

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    1. It's rare in films where the subplot was also wonderful; Mary's story was quite heartbreaking as well.

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  6. Interesting choices. I've never really thought of Maria and the Captain as a May/December romance but I think that was more because Christopher Plummer was so attractive, and young, in the film. Thinking about the actual pair the film is based on Captain von Trapp was considerably older than Maria.

    I hated Eternal Sunshine but the pairing makes sense here. Haven't seen Memories of a Geisha yet.

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    1. Christopher Plummer definitely was very handsome in the film.

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  7. The Geisha is a wonderful pick! I've never heard about the others though.

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  8. Eternal Sunshine is a great pick! Never crossed my mind. I haven't seen Geisha, and I haven't seen The Sound of Music since I was a kid. Need to re-watch. Good picks!

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  9. I have seen the Sound of Music and although the actors playing them are not that far off in age, in reality there was an age difference. I love the dance scene! I have not seen the other 2 but the last film I can rent (I still do that) but I don't know how to see the first film and it sounds so quiet but good.

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  10. I love your selections. My favorite is of course the 'Sound of Music.' The romance between them reminded me a lot Jane Eyre. I especially love that song they're singing. I've always had a crush on Christopher Plummmer-- I don't care how old he is.

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  11. I totally did not think of ESotSM. It's so perfect and I love it.

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