gaps

Have you seen that new movie?  The one where the woman is sad and kind of lost?  The one about love?  The one where your eyes tear up or you nod your head while watching because it captures so many of those difficult and joyful and life things.  The one with the dialogue that you could swear comes straight out of conversations or thoughts from your life?  The one with the ambiguous ending?  The one that that is so good but also so sad because it is so true?  The one that reminds you of the infinite loneliness and need for connection we all experience?  The one about disappointment?  The one where you feel sad and mad and infinite sympathy and understanding for every character?

No, not Lost In Translation.  The one with Michelle Williams.

No, not Blue Valentine.

Take this Waltz.

Take this Waltz mattered so much to me.  I will buy it and watch it again and again.  The cinematography was stunning.  The symbolism rich but not overdone.  The dialogue effective.  The pacing, perfect.  Enough to surprise while remaining believable.

Of all the difficult relationships in the film, Sarah Silverman's character's marriage is the most stable.  Even as an struggling recovering alcoholic, her dialogue with Margot in the gym shower and her drunken rant in her last conversation with Margot marked her as the unlikely sage of the film.

As sad as I expected to be based on what I'd heard from the film, I felt lifted.  I felt comforted.  Silverman's character reminded me (and tried to remind Margot) of an important truth that will make you crazy or delusional or forever let down if you forget:

"In the bigger picture, life has a gap in it.  

It just does.  

You don't go crazy trying to fill it."

The movie reminded me that it's ok to be sad sometimes and to not know why.  It's ok to not be able to figure out the 1/10 situation talked about in the movie.  It's ok and necessary to be content with that element of living.  And it's so important not to try to snuff it out or to minimize that restlessness or sadness with something that will never quite fit the gap.  Relationships cannot and will not fill it.  Religion can pacify it, but leaves a huge logic/reason gap.  Hobbies can distract, but they do not fill.  Addiction poses as escape but creates more problems than it solves.

Life has a gap in it.  It just does.  

The movie reminded that even with the gap hanging around the borders of living, life can still be enjoyed. 

It's ok to be sad.  And it's also ok to enjoy the ride.