Time travel is one of those storylines that can be either very moving or really cheesy, thought-provoking or groan-inducing, Insightful or a mess. It is a very tricky and delicate part of both science fiction and romance genres.
Many film directors and screenwriters have tackled the topic throughout the years, with results that range from forgettable, to funny and quirky, to bracingly romantic. Some of the notable Hollywood efforts include "The Butterfly Effect," "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure," "Click," "Hot Tub Time Machine" and, perhaps one of the most beloved, "Back to the Future."
These can be crowd-pleasing, engaging films, but once in awhile, a time travel film is made that raises the bar and takes things to a deeper level. It offers a twist that both shocks and asks much of the audience.
There is also something to be said for time travel romances. The premise appeals to a broad audience. After all, who hasn't considered the possibility of reincarnation, of time travel, of the possibility of a lost love forgotten somewhere in time? There is an allure to something we can almost conceive of as being possible.
In the 2006 drama "The Lake House," Kate Foster played by Sandra Bullock and Alex Wyler played by Keanu Reeves are a couple separated by two years, who communicate through love letters exchanged through a mailbox outside the lake house where Kate lives (Alex inhabited the place two years earlier).
A twist in the plot reveals that Alex died in Kates arms before she moved to the lake house, and it is only through their letters that they come to recognize one another. Ultimately, Kate can keep Alex from a fatal accident and the two come together at last. The film is heavy on the romance, but the element of time travel speaks to the hope for second chances and larger-than-life love.
A more recent example is "The Time Traveler's Wife," a Rachel McAdams-Eric Bana flick based on the novel of the same name. In it, Bana's character Henry De Tamble travels involuntarily through time due to a rare genetic disorder, while Clare Abshire played by Rachel McAdams remains in the present. After their first meeting, Henry goes back in time to meet his wife Clare at various stages of her life, all of which happened before they met. His disorder complicates their marriage and their ability to have children, and leaves his life in jeopardy due to an accident that occurs while he is traveling through time. The two presumably end up together in the end, but like all great time travel romances it wouldn't be time travel without a bittersweet twist.
A departure from these time travel by chance plot lines is "Somewhere In Time," in which Richard Collier played by Christopher Reeves allows himself to be hypnotized in order to go back in time and find a beautiful actress Elise McKenna played by Jane Seymour with whom he falls in love after seeing her photograph. The two are kept apart by the woman's manager, who fears the romance will destroy her career.
Richard ultimately returns to present-day without his lover, then presumably dies and is reunited with her.
These three stories are gut-wrenching for the tragic elements of their plots, on a deeper level. They also speak to those of us whom recognize what it's like to mourn love lost, who long for another chance, that hope to be reunited with a lost love one day, finally mending our bleeding hearts.
MATTHEW DICONTI
Author
Moorpark, CA.
http://www.matthewdiconti.com/
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