Love Actually 20th Anniversary (Richard Curtis, 2003)
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Twenty years ago, writer and director Richard Curtis showed us with Love Actually, now back in theaters, that life is full of small moments of love and affection.
By the time Curtis made this romantic comedy to end all romantic comedies we already knew him as the screenwriter of Blackadder, Bean, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill and various other TV series and films. Curtis learned the intricacies of directing from directors such as Mike Newell and Roger Michell, which perhaps is why Love Actually works just as smoothly as the romantic comedies for which he wrote the screenplay. Curtis was of course not alone in his endeavors: Working Title, responsible for many major British film hits, has always managed things perfectly from a production point of view.
Yet it is no small feat that Curtis delivers here, because Love Actually is the Magnolia of 'romcoms'. The screenplay contains nine different storylines, most of which intersect at some point, and no less than twenty-two characters relevant to the plot. Too much of a good thing can certainly be a problem, but the film never loses its balance.
The fact that Curtis could choose the best British actors also works in the film's favor. However sketchy some characters are developed, it's not difficult to embrace them. Hugh Grant as the bold Prime Minister who sets the Americans straight and falls in love with a working-class maid. Emma Thompson as his sister, who is painfully confronted with her husband's potential adultery. Alan Rickman as her husband who, to his own surprise, finds out that he is not impervious to other charms. They are all lovable in their own particular way.
Some storylines are played as pure comedy, such as the ugly boy who travels to Wisconsin because he is convinced that the girls there will immediately fall for his British accent. But sometimes it’s the other way around: in Four Weddings Curtis evoked a melancholy undertone of loss by mixing in that famous 'funeral' with all the weddings, in Love Actually he lets a character miss the chance of a great romantic love, because this person has to care for someone who is still there.
While the film ends on a shamelessly romantic note, it's clear that not all characters in Love Actually get what they hope for or feel they are entitled to. Nevertheless, Curtis captivatingly shows that life, if you pay attention, is full of little moments of love and affection. In any case, I never looked at the arrivals hall at London Heathrow in the same way after seeing this film.
Curtis takes a big risk by starting his film with a reference to September 11, 2001. If the whole thing had become bogged down in false sentiment, it would have been unforgivable. But Love Actually works. Not only because Curtis sincerely believes that love is more important than money or power, but mainly because he has the talent to translate his feelings into astute dialogue and charming characters. ‘Let's go and get the shit kicked out of us by love,’ one of them says somewhere. Based on this movie, you can't help but conclude that this is damn good advice.
Note: Love Actually is back in theaters in a new 4K version. It is also available on various streaming platforms.