Foot: With Love, From the Age of Reason

How many times have you thought about the young you? How many times have you questioned if you have become who you once said you wanted to be?? Both of these questions seem quite simplistic, but after watching With Love, From the Age of Reason, I have thought about these questions in a different light. A brief synopsis:

The main character of the film is a 40 year old woman named Margaret. Margaret seems to have it all. She is a successful businesswoman, head of her firm, has an amazing man in her life and she is quite wealthy. She has achieved what we (Americans) would call the American dream. One day she receives envolopes consisting of letters and the letters are ones that were written 33 years earlier by herself. These letters are delivered and they shed light on her past. It takes her to a place where she has not been in a really long time. She is able to relive her childhood and she is taken back to when her imagination was lively and wealth was the furthest thing that she needed to make her happy. She realizes that she has let her 7 year old self down and that she has not become the person she told herself she would become.

Personal Issues: This film was quite emotional, it was hard not to put yourself in Margaret's shoes and imagine the things you wanted as a child. I absolutely love romantic comedies and this film really did touch me. I could not stop thinking about the things that I wanted as a child and if I have lost touch of who I was and intended on being. Kids view things with simplicity and status are typically the last things that matter. I found myself really questioning if I could revert back to the way I use to think when I was only 7 years old.

Technique: The technical approach that Yann Samuell used for this movie was brilliant. Throughout the story, there were many flashbacks and visions that were incorporated to better tell the story. Whenever Margaret received a letter, she would have flashbacks and that is how the audience got to know the real Margaret, the young Margaret. Through this technique, we (the audience) learned about her family, her best friend and even her different treasures in her life.

Plot: "Dear Me, today I am seven years old and I'm writing you this letter to help you remember the promises I made, and also to remind you of what I want to become..." Fast forward 30+ years to Margaret, a hard-charging businesswoman who sells global-warming power plants to the Chinese. Margaret has looks to kill and an adoring English lover. In fact, she has everything going for her but freedom. On her 40th birthday, Margaret receives the first bundle of letters she wrote to herself when she was seven. A jumble of colorful collages, photographs, and wildly creative puzzles, they seem to come from a different girl entirely. As her letters to herself keep coming, Margaret finds herself disenchanted. She visits her childhood village and, by reconnecting with people who see in her the girl they once knew, she starts finding her way to the woman she vowed to become. WITH LOVE, FROM THE AGE OF REASON is an absolutely charming film starring the ravishing Sophie Marceau. (In French with subtitles) – B.B.

Themes: With Love, From the Age of Reason was filled with some many different themes. There were themes of love, success and imagination, but I believe the two most powerful themes of this film were wealth and power. Throughout the film this is what Margaret is most conflicted with, she has both wealth and power, but neither one of these things were important to her as a child.

Genre: Romantic-Comedy

Representation: This film is a representation of how successful, wealthy people are sometimes missing the more simplistic aspects of life. This film is an account of conflicts that are quite realistic and relevant to plenty of peoples' lives.

Ideology: Wealth and power do not always bring forth a life of happiness.

Acting: The acting was amazing and I really believe Sophie Marceau did a great job playing the lead role. All of the roles were believeable and the actors made it really easy for the audience to relate to them.