The Bridges of Madison County is a romantic masterpiece, but it's so incredibly heart wrenching, most people only want to see it once. I have a DVD copy in my collection, but the cellophane is still on it. It's a wonderful movie in every facet, and some-including yours truly-name it as legendary Meryl Streep's finest performance. Clint Eastwood wears two hats, and his thoughtful and sensitive directing makes it seem like you're watching someone's life unfold, rather than going to the movies.
Richard LaGravenese's screenplay brings an entirely new meaning to the story, and if you run out and buy a copy of the original novel after watching the movie, you'll be severely disappointed. The book contains a love story between an unsatisfied housewife and a visiting photographer. The movie proves their sacrifice had meaning. The film starts out informing the audience that Meryl Streep has died and she wishes her ashes to be scattered over the bridges of Madison County, rather than to be laid to rest next to her husband. Her adult children, Annie Corley and Victor Slezak, are understandably confused, but when they come across a set of journals written by their mother, they learn of a brief love affair she had when they were children. Annie and Victor are struggling in their own lives, and learning more about their mother helps them navigate and learn. If you can believe it, the book doesn't include any of that! The housewife doesn't die, her children don't grow up, and she isn't able to continue to mother them beyond the grave. Where's the poignancy? Where are the final tears they could have wrung out of their readers? To me, the parallel storyline with the adult children is what makes this movie a tear-jerking classic.
There are so many beautiful scenes that have staying in my memory, as I'm sure they've stayed in yours, even though it's been over ten years since I've watched it. I remember how many Kleenexes I went through during each part of the movie, which is probably why I haven't broken open that cellophane. My heart breaks when Meryl presses a shaky hand to the car door, and although I'm not a mother myself, I appreciate her wonderful expression as she closes her heart before greeting her children.
Getting past the tears, there's so much wonderful acting in this movie that makes you wonder how Meryl ever lost the Academy Award, and why Clint wasn't even nominated, since it's his finest hour as well. Perfectly cast as a drifter with dreams that have passed him by, he could have easily come across as either a sleazy Harold Hill-type who wants a fling with a grateful housewife, or an unrealistic romantic. He's neither, and because the love they share is mutual, the story works.
If you've never seen it, you've got to pick the right moment to watch The Bridges of Madison County for the first time. Don't watch it after a breakup, and don't watch it when you're feeling blue. You'll need all your strength to get through it. But you'll be rewarded. You'll get to see two career-best performances in an indelible love story, and you'll find yourself wondering if Meryl Streep is secretly Italian and has hidden her accent in all her other movies.
