Remember Memento, Christopher Nolan’s amnesiac mind-bender? It was a tale of trying to retrieve the past told backward. In 2002, the Special Edition DVD of the film included a hidden feature that allowed you to watch the movie in reverse — that is, in rough chronological order. I never did sit down and watch it that way; I think I was worried that I still wouldn’t be able to follow it. (Much as I cherish Memento, the beauty of Nolan’s hypnotic puzzle thriller is that its narrative logic always remains a shade out of the reach of your mind’s eye.) Yet thinking back on it gave me an idea: When the time-hopping indie-hit romance (500) Days of Summer finally comes out on DVD, wouldn’t it be fun if there were a special feature that allowed you to watch it in chronological order?
The reason I ask the question is that the central device in (500) Days — we follow the romance of Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a failed-architect-turned-greeting-card-writer, and Summer (Zooey Deschanel), a free spirit, by bouncing around in time — so defines the movie that you might be tempted to think that’s more or less all there is to it. Look closer, though, and you’ll see that what has been charming audiences about (500) Days isn’t just its playful, artfully structured cinematic cleverness. Scene for scene, the movie is the opposite of jumpy; it’s fresh, deft, funny, supple, intimate, and emotionally sly.
I’ve seen (500) Days twice now, and what enchanted me as much or more the second time is the sheer understated and delighted humanity of almost every moment. I keep thinking back to scenes like the office karaoke party, in which Summer does her version of Nancy Sinatra’s “Sugar Town” (most awesome song choice ever) and then, just as we’re sure we’re watching a typical cool-cute movie-ish name-that-tune sing-along fantasy, something quietly dramatic happens: Tom gets up and does his pretty damn good rendition of the Pixies’ “Here Comes Your Man,” and we see Summer’s whole attitude toward him change in the light of her eye.
I relish, as well, the scene in which Summer is approached by a belligerent lothario-jerk at a bar and Tom feels compelled to “save” her by punching the guy — which doesn’t work at all, because he’s not really doing it for her, but to prove something; or the moment when Tom quits his job with a big rousing, self-loathing speech, which his dweebish work buddy McKenzie (Geoffrey Arend) attempts to salute, for a few awkward seconds, with a hilariously inappropriate “slow clap”; or the incredibly moving final park-bench conversation between Tom and Summer, in which she tries to explain the unexplainable — that she’s just not that into him.
When was the last time the heroine of a love story made that claim? The freshness of (500) Days of Summer is that it catches a generation in which girls have become “dudes,” playing the field (though they would rarely put it that way), and guys are scrambling to live in a world where they’re not allowed to be too sensitive or too macho. That’s why the film isn’t just a “romantic comedy;” it’s a delicate etching of how we live now. And that’s why, even though the scrambled-time gimmick works wonderfully, the real secret of the movie’s magic is that those 500 days might just be perfectly captivating if watched in order. Do you agree?
I don’t know if I’d like to see it chronologically if only because I loved the way the juxtaposed the high and lows and Tom and Summer’s relationship. I’m afraid that if we saw it in order the inevitable collapse would just be too sad to watch.
Well Christopher Nolan films are kind of different. They are much more interesting because they keep important secrets in the past until the film ends, which pushes the audience to watch the film again to see the film in a different light. The glory of the twist in the sixth sense is that seeing it again you fully realize Cole’s story. I haven’t seen (500) days of summer, and as far as I know, there is no huge twist, so seeing it in order may make it more beautiful.
So… something like the first season of Haruhi?
I’m sure the film would still be awesome in chronological order, but like Katie K said, some of the juxtapositioning is just too good to lose. It would certainly add some poignancy to some of those later scenes though, having more space in between them.
They should program the DVD like an iPod shuffle, so you could watch the movie in a different order each time.
I’m not usually into gimmicks, but that’s actually a really cool idea. I mean, really, really cool.
ITA!!
The iPOD shuffle ideas is awesome. Hope someone “in-charge” reads this.
you’re a genius!!!!
Love it!!
Some steps in the wind…
I hear, in
the strength
that always
remains, the
delicate rhymes
of a deep
sensibility, and
even a pleasure
where the
sun-rise appears…
Francesco Sinibaldi
From what I understand, if viewed in chronological order, the movie would be a bit of downer. It purposely jumps around so as not to become too depressing.
I have to wholeheartedly agree with Owen here; everything he says above rings true with me. And to all the comments about how a chronological “(500) Days” would be oh-so-depressing… isn’t that life? Isn’t that how a real relationship usually ends up? And in light of that, isn’t that what this film is showing? While I love the scrambled “gimmick,” I think these 500 days in correct order would give the viewer another facet to the humanity this film is portraying.
I have also seen this movie twice, and I love it. Owen, on one hand, I think the movie is amazing, and I would not tamper with it. Seeing the same scene at different points in time with different contexts is one of the best parts. On the other hand, when I get the DVD on day one of its release, I just may attempt to watch it in chronological order, just to see what it’s like. I’m that intrigued.
I am 53 year-old male, not the target for this movie, but I want to tell you that it was the most endearing and fresh thing I have seen in years. While I find the the ideas of putting the scenes in order or mixing them further interesting – my gut instinct is that you don’t mess with somethings – this film being one of them.
I just saw it today and really liked that for all its “gimmicks”–nonlinear, cute countdown title cards, superfluous dance sequence complete with 2D animation–the movie managed to acknowledge something deeper in the characters that supports all its delicate flourishes. Plus, I love the tiny glimpses at the relationship’s crumbling foundation that come together and make sense after they watch The Graduate. An unexpected line about pancakes is all that’s needed to bring the back-and-forth time skipping to a simple, understated meeting point. Certainly no Memento-style grand realization, but more of a quiet snapshot of a couple as one grows distant from the other.
LOVED that movie! Finally a movie where the characters are human and real. And where the guy is romantic and has real feelings. It is quite clever without stepping over the line into being precious–the time hopping device keeps us interested to the end.
You know, the movie wasn’t that great. I suppose if all you ever watch are traditional rom-coms, this one is going to seem really special. Otherwise, I don’t get exactly what the big deal is.
As for seeing it in chronological order . . . I don’t think so. Except for the non-Hollywood ending, it would be extremely conventional in chronological order and everyone would see how it’s not that special. Besides, at the end, the guy’s annoying little sister tells him he’s been remembering it all wrong and that he should go back and look at it again–and they briefly re-show some of the out-of-order scenes, and you realize there’s more than one way to view them. That wouldn’t work if the whole thing was chronological. PLUS, if it was chronological, the annoying sister would have a lot of scenes in a row, and that would completely ruin the last half hour or so of the movie.
“Finally a movie where the characters are human and real.”
If you think this is the only movie out there where the characters are human and real, you haven’t been watching the right movies. Plus, the leading man’s best friends and his younger sister are straight out of movie stereotypes 101, and Zooey Deschanel’s character is way idealized. Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s character was good though, and he gave a good performance.
Anyone else think it was weird that Zooey’s character kept pushing him to pursue a career in architecture (“his dream”), but meanwhile I guess it was perfectly OK for her to stay a secretary? Didn’t SHE have any dreams beyond having a quirky apartment and getting married?
I noticed that too – the bit about Summer’s non-career. She was super interesting but wasn’t doing much.
“The freshness of (500) Days of Summer is that it catches a generation in which girls have become “dudes,” playing the field (though they would rarely put it that way) . . .”
No offense Owen–I’m usually a fan of your reviews and respect your opinion, but if you think relations between the sexes nowadays can be summed up this easily, you’ve been watching too much Sex and the City.