I'm not a huge fan of romance movies in general but when in the mood I usually go back and watch the ones that touched me. I remember seeing this film when in first came out in 1985, around the time of my high school graduation. It's stayed with me all these years. If nothing else, you'll have a hankering to visit Ocean City, Maryland on a warm summer day. I visited the town over 30 years after this movie was released and it was one of the first things I thought of!
In the opening scene we're introduced to Augusta "Gussie" Sawyer (Sissy Spacek) and Henry Squires (Kevin Kline), young lovers on the eve of their high school graduation and the start of their adult lives. Both have dreams of leaving their hometown and setting the world on fire in their respective careers. (he in journalism, she in photography) Fast forward 13 years. Gussie has achieved her dream...she is a successful photographer, a celebrity in the town she was dying to escape from. Returning home for the first real vacation in years, she by chance runs into Henry, who's now married with a son. They soon realize nothing's changed and they are still in love, sharing stolen moments desperately trying to find a way to bring back the past.
The remainder of the film is a bittersweet story of lost love and leaves the viewer torn. Henry's wife, Ruth, is a wonderful woman, (played by Bonnie Bedelia, bringing a depth and dimension to the character that only a skilled actress could manage) a lady content with her life in the "small" coastal town in a house decorated with artifacts from rummage sales and making French toast for her "men." Ruth knows that a part of Henry has always wanted bigger things than running a small town newspaper while she's happy with life as it is. It's left unspoken as they raise their son but it's always there. Now the past has returned and a choice must be made that will be irreversible one way or the other.
The movie is more than just a simple romantic story of lost love and "the one that got away" but is a metaphor itself. The wistful longing for warm summer days in a beautiful coastal town, knowing the season is short and will soon be gone. The "old timers" who live in the town year round that give it a sentimental feeling of a vanishing age. The old, time worn houses that are past their prime. Childhood memories of amusement parks and the fun that goes by far too fast. Returning home to aging parents (John Kellogg is moving as Gussie's gruff but warm hearted father) who offer wisdom and unconditional love. It all gives it a feeling of a wonderful time that's short and fleeting but where the memories will last forever.
I'll watch any genre; war, western, horror, dystopian science fiction, true crime and usually romance is my bottom pick, but I highly recommend Violets are Blue, even if you watch it just once. Sorry it seems to be forgotten these days, it certainly doesn't deserve to be.
In the opening scene we're introduced to Augusta "Gussie" Sawyer (Sissy Spacek) and Henry Squires (Kevin Kline), young lovers on the eve of their high school graduation and the start of their adult lives. Both have dreams of leaving their hometown and setting the world on fire in their respective careers. (he in journalism, she in photography) Fast forward 13 years. Gussie has achieved her dream...she is a successful photographer, a celebrity in the town she was dying to escape from. Returning home for the first real vacation in years, she by chance runs into Henry, who's now married with a son. They soon realize nothing's changed and they are still in love, sharing stolen moments desperately trying to find a way to bring back the past.
The remainder of the film is a bittersweet story of lost love and leaves the viewer torn. Henry's wife, Ruth, is a wonderful woman, (played by Bonnie Bedelia, bringing a depth and dimension to the character that only a skilled actress could manage) a lady content with her life in the "small" coastal town in a house decorated with artifacts from rummage sales and making French toast for her "men." Ruth knows that a part of Henry has always wanted bigger things than running a small town newspaper while she's happy with life as it is. It's left unspoken as they raise their son but it's always there. Now the past has returned and a choice must be made that will be irreversible one way or the other.
The movie is more than just a simple romantic story of lost love and "the one that got away" but is a metaphor itself. The wistful longing for warm summer days in a beautiful coastal town, knowing the season is short and will soon be gone. The "old timers" who live in the town year round that give it a sentimental feeling of a vanishing age. The old, time worn houses that are past their prime. Childhood memories of amusement parks and the fun that goes by far too fast. Returning home to aging parents (John Kellogg is moving as Gussie's gruff but warm hearted father) who offer wisdom and unconditional love. It all gives it a feeling of a wonderful time that's short and fleeting but where the memories will last forever.
I'll watch any genre; war, western, horror, dystopian science fiction, true crime and usually romance is my bottom pick, but I highly recommend Violets are Blue, even if you watch it just once. Sorry it seems to be forgotten these days, it certainly doesn't deserve to be.