The other night, I went out to the IFC theater on 6th to see a movie that really intrigued me: "Breaking Upwards." I'm obsessed with couples to begin with, always smiling and creepily lurking on couples in the park or "awwww"-ing at intertwined hands or quick pecks on the cheeks. When I heard about the concept of this film, I was a little confused:
The movie is somewhat autobiographical of the off-screen relationship pf writers/stars/producers/directors of the film, Daryl Wein and Zoe Lister-Jones. A co-dependent, inseparable couple conceived at NYU, Zoe and Daryl had dated for 2 years before they decided to come up with their own new governing rules and ween themselves off of one another, possibly, maybe preparing for a breakup by only being a couple for four out of seven days a week.
They are challenging the modern concept of monogamy, something that just seems so mundane and ubiquitous, we rarely question such a convention. After having experimented with this new kind of relationship, Daryl and Zoe have now been together for six years despite what we may have expected. They thought their story was so funny it could make for a good movie--here it is!
Zoe and Daryl have participated in a post modern experiment: they blew off what their traditional parents had thought would make a relationship work (continuously talking it out and working on it daily), instead, trying things on their own terms. They weren't going to settle for one overall way to work things out, instead, realizing that there are multiple ways to understanding the ways a relationship can function.
They even used post modern concepts of parody, simulation, and remix within the film to poke fun at New Kids on the Block, facebook, myspace, yoga, etc. These were things that a very well-versed audience were able to pick up on and laugh about.
I recommend this film to anyone looking for a cute/upside down romance (like "500 Days")that challenges the conventions of a traditional love story.
No comments:
Post a Comment