Bed and Board

With great nostalgia, I watched Francois Truffaut's legendary Bed and Board yesterday evening. I love this film, and my love for it manifests in many forms.

I have a certain feeling of longing whenever I watch French New Wave films. Maybe because I miss France, or maybe because I want to connect with a time and place that feels untouchable in my mind. It mimics the beauty and innocence my generation often sees when we look back to the World War II generation of our grandparents. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. French new wave was both of those as well, and Truffaut was undeniably the leading lord of that movement. I admire his fearlessness and the fact that he wasn't afraid of failing. Not all of his experiments proved successful, but the reigning beauties from his work stand out as angels over the Paris sky. Watching Bed and Board reminds me of his triumph as a leader in cinema, and inspires me to write more, do more, and be more.

Another form of my love for Bed and Board comes by way personal connection. The relationship at its center is for me a glimpse into the life I might have known had I married a former love (or two). It is a bittersweet feeling every woman comes to know, eventually, and in this writer's opinion, that feeling is a necessity in life. We need to be reminded of where we are in time and how our past remains a part of us. I have included a clip this week of my favorite scene from the film. It gets to the core of a relationship that simply got off track, and in that way it is heartlessly realistic. Yet, it is a romantic scene that also teaches truth. This scene reminds us that love, like energy, doesn't die; it merely changes form.

Her husband says, "You are my sister, my daughter, my mother."

Wife, (smiles) "I would have liked to be your wife too."