The view from Roseman Bridge

Then they held each other for a long time. And he whispered to her,

“I have one thing to say, one thing only, I’ll never say it another time, to anyone and I ask you to remember it. In a universe of ambiguity, this kind of certainty comes only once, and never again, no matter how many lifetimes you live.”

I never believed that I would say this but yes Robert James Waller’s 'The Bridges of Madison County' is generations apart from Erich Segal’s “Love Story’ and that’s what makes it so endearing. It’s not romance in an
I-just-turned-seventeen-and-my-hormones-are-raging way…it travels deeper than that and touches your mind as much as it caresses your heart.

It has been a marathon of sorts. After coming across the first draft of the screenplay for the movie by the same name, I went to the library and brought home the movie and the book. I can’t recollect an evening better spent.

It wasn’t about it being a best seller or the fact that handsome Clint Eastwood had done an amazing job in the movie as actor/director rather it had lots to do with the simple manner in which the author made those characters come alive before your eyes. This story was all about relationships; the simple want in a woman to be loved and the various needs tied to a person that makes love so complicated...that makes one realise why it ain't easy walking away. Somehow deep inside every woman lies a Francesca wanting to be discovered and talked with and listened to and loved like never before in an all consuming and powerful way.

And I couldn't stay away from Iowa for too long...walking with Francesca as she shows the pasture to Robert; following Robert’s thoughts before he dances with Francesca in her kitchen; falling in love with them as they stick by their decisions and wishing with all my heart for Francesca to get out of the car and go away with Robert but loving her just the same when she doesn’t do it…like the cliché goes “the sweetest songs are those that telleth the saddest tales”.

Of course Richard LaGravenese's first draft shifted from the book in many ways but the final product, the movie, did justice to the book. It hadn’t wavered much except at some points to inject some humor and more class to an already beautiful poetry. Meryl Streep lived as Francesca and Clint Eastwood…well I am yet to come across an old handsome man who would make me fall in love with even his wrinkles every time he smiles. No one captures the subtleties of emotion as well as Clint does.

The initial draft talked of Dinah Washington but I didn’t hear much of her blues in the movie
or maybe I wasn’t really tuned for it. Anyways, here are 2 numbers from her collection which I feel would go with the story. (Or maybe it did considering i ain't musically tuned)

Unforgettable

Unforgettable, that's what you are
Unforgettable though near or far
Like a song of love that clings to me
How the thought of you does things to me
Never before has someone been more

Unforgettable in every way
And forever more, that's how you'll stay
That's why, darling, it's incredible
That someone so unforgettable
Thinks that I am unforgettable too

Unforgettable in every way
And forever more, that's how you'll stay
That's why, darling, it's incredible
That someone so unforgettable
Thinks that I am unforgettable too

*****

Love Walked In

Love walked right in and drove the shadows away
Love walked right in and brought my sunniest day
One magic moment and my heart seemed to know
That love said "Hello" though not a word was spoken

One look and I forgot the gloom of the past
One look and I had found my future at last
One look and I had found a world completely new
When love walked in with you