Tear Jerker(PART 2 OF 3)
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Subj:
Celebrate your 200th movie!
From: diane@vancouver.ca
To: barclay1720@aol.com
Date: Fri., Mar 08, 2013 12:31:23
Pacific Standard Time
Hi Kato,
How are you doing, my romantic bohemian?
It's unbelievable you've watched your 198th VPL movie.
Now, why don't you find a real live gal to entertain and be entertained by before you become completely mesmerized by technology.
Egads. Pretty impressive, anyway.
You must find a creative way to celebrate watching your 200th movie when the day comes.
Maybe have a party and invite all the librarians and all the VPL friends you've made ... that'd be fun.
Interesting review of Creation.
I must see it one day.
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If Charles & Emma had a strained relationship over the death of Annie and no loving as a result, he probably wasn't "happily" married until his death at 73.
Perhaps they both just resigned themselves to the new reality.
See you soon, kiddo,
Find yourself a nice girlfriend, okay?
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Ciao for now,
Love, Diane ~
Kato, have you found a nice girl yet?
Oh no, it's impossible!
Why is that?
...'Cause your image has been imprinted in the back of my eyes, which reject other nice images---even the charming image of Ludmila Savelyeva, who played Masha (Maria) in the "Sunflower (I girasoli)."
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Tsk, tsk, tsk, ... Kato, you're too romantic to be a realist. By the way, have you found a creative way to celebrate watching your 200th movie when the day comes.
Yes, of course, I have.
Tell me about it, kiddo!
So that's why I've brought up the above pictures.
Did you watch "Sunflower" as your 200th movie?
Yes and no. Look at the following list.
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The "Sunflower" film is your 203rd movie, isn't it?
Yes, it is. Unfortunately, my 200th film turns out an Arabic movie called "Cairo Station," which isn't my cup of tea. So I viewed "Charlie Chan in Shanghai," which isn't my cup of green tea, either. Then I picked up a Korean movie called "Chi-hwa-seon," which isn't my cup of coffee. I felt like crying over my bad luck. Then suddenly I recalled an unforgettable heart-rendering tear-jerker: "Sunflower."
I see... so you came to view the old movie to celebrate having watched the 200th movie, didn't you?
Yes, I did.
I girasoli - TRAILER
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Henry Mancini
Love theme from SUNFLOWER
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I jotted down my comment in the library:
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Giovanna (Sophia Loren) and Antonio (Marcello Mastroianni) get married to delay Antonio's deployment during World War II.
This event buys them twelve days of happiness.
After this, they try another scheme, in which Antonio pretends to be a crazy man, but to no avail.
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Finally, Antonio is sent to the Russian Front.
When the war is over, Antonio does not return and is listed as missing in action.
Despite the odds, Giovanna is convinced her true love has survived the war and is still in Russia.
Determined, she journeys to Russia to find him.
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After a lengthy search, Giovanna eventually finds Antonio, but by now he has started a second family with a woman who saved his life, and they have one daughter.
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Childless, having been faithful to her husband, Giovanna returns to Italy, heartbroken, but unwilling to disrupt her love's new life.
Some years later, Antonio returns to Giovanna, asking her to come back with him to Russia.
Meanwhile, Giovanna has tried to move on with her own life, moving out of their first home together and into her own apartment.
She has started dating again, has given birth to a baby boy, and is living as a single parent.
He explains his new life, how war changes a man, how safe he felt with his new woman.
Unwilling to ruin Antonio's daughter's or her own new son's life, Giovanna refuses to leave Italy.
As they part, Antonio gives her a fur, which he had promised years before that he'd bring back for her.
The lovers lock eyes as Antonio's train takes him away from Giovanna, and from Italy, forever.
At this point you would probably get drowned in your own tears as Henry Mancini's theme music would wrench your heart.
SOURCE: from the VPL library catalogue
Girassóis da Rússia 1970
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Ending Scene
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Oh, my Goodness... The above clips remind me of my heart-wrenching memoirs... I was drowned in my own tears while Henry Mancini's theme music filled the theater.
Did you watch the movie as well?
Yes, I did. As you mentioned, it's a real tear-jerker. I recall my late husband, now.
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But you seem to enjoy life.
Kato, whatsoever happens, life goes on ... yet life's too short.
You're absolutely right on! Life is short and art is long, so is blog. So that's the reason I've been spending much time on blogging! My blog is definitely long!
【Himiko's Monologue】
Well ... what do you think?
Yes, I suppose Kato's blog is quite long.
In any case, I hope Kato will write another interesting article soon.
So please come back to see me.
Have a nice day!
Bye bye ...
(To be followed)