TWO FOR THE ROAD/Austin Film Society

Moving along in this Essential Cinema Series of remarriages is TWO FOR THE ROAD starring the exquisite Audrey Hepburn and the once adorable Albert Finney.  The wardrobe for Ms. Hepburn and Mr. Finney reminded me how easily star struck I can become.   I would have dismissed this film in 1967 (we were very busy protesting the war in Viet Nam and could have cared less about couture) but I am so happy to revisit it now. This film  is so very realistic about a relationship filled with so much passion early on which then becomes a marriage filled with life's realities.  Sometimes it is painful to see the unhappiness, resentment, frustration, and loss of warmth between the two.  But throughout the film (as Kimberley Jones forewarned us) there is so much laughter between the two, so much fun being had.  The underlying truth about a long term marriage unfolds in this film.  It's a relationship that markedly changes.  Sometimes frighteningly so. What wins out  is the acceptance of those changes because this is the person you truly love and want to be with.  There is something special about the  familiarity of one other person  throughout your adult life and the ultimate acceptance that mistakes have been made with that person.  I loved watching this film with my husband of 29 years.  Very reaffirming.