A stunning parable, as well as being a kind of purloined letter, hiding in plain sight of all of the censors and watchdogs who should have objected, and yet somehow missed it. (Or could there have been reasonable functionaries in there, turning blind eyes when they could?) The movie’s central, alleged marriage is very funny, in all its particulars. But in real life it never happened. Something else did, though, and a lot, during this fearsome, frightening wartime period. Young people came crashing together, with ardent irresponsibility, and irresponsible ardour. Shouldn’t have, probably. Did. Now what are we going to do about it?
Interlude: sometimes fingers should be wagged, but they should still be wagged decently. Do we really think—have we so forgotten?—that this kind of exchange is exclusively carnal? Mr. Springsteen remembers, and aptly sets forth the secular trajectory. Note to the sequence of the lyrics on the bridge of his 2002’s 9/11 elegy, “Countin’ on a Miracle”:
Your kiss, your touch,
Your heart, your strength,
Your hope, your faith,
Your face, your love,
Your dream, your life …
Isn’t that right, and in two senses of the word? That kiss will lead to a touch, like your folks warned you, and like probably they were warned. But touching can also lead to the heart, and to strength and hope and faith. The kiss and the touch brings us back to the face, which is not just the ever-present physical, but also body and spirit combined unto completeness: to love and the dream and the entire being, to his and her entire life. The soul. Cue ecstatic guitar…
(Big Star: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAIuim4GXK0)
(This video doesn’t seem to know how profound this song is. The Beach Boys: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QB2Ck00YZ8)
Obligatory Christmas climaxes can be nice, what with our sentiments, and our sentimentalities, and such. Contrary to that run-of-the-mill, this film’s climax is Christmas significant, and Christmas appropriate. Doctrinal aptness, theological heft; forgiving and forgiven, for Christ’s sake. Then come the sextuplets.