Match Point
Love. Lust.All. Nothing.
Truth. Deception.
Temptation. Passion. Obsession.
These are some of the themes running through Woody Allen’s ‘Match Point’.
Jonathan Rhys Meyers play Chris Wilton, the one-time pro tennis player who befriends the wealthy but pleasant Tom, and marries his sister, the very sweet Chloe.
Then he meets Tom’s fiancé, Nola (Scarlett Johansson).
His attraction to Nola quickly turns to obsession.
And events spiral out of control from there.
While this is a story about the seduction of wealth, about ambition, and the relationship between love, lust and sexual passion, perhaps the theme at the forefront of this film is that of luck, and the role which luck plays in our lives.
The film opens with a statement from Chris:
“There are moments in a match when the ball hits the top of the net and for a split second it can either go forward or fall back. With a little luck, it goes forward and you win…or maybe it doesn’t, and you lose.”
For Chris, as events unfold, it would seem more often than not luck is on his side and the ball falls forward. Whether or not it is fair for everyone else of course.
All this talk of ‘luck’ of course simply points out how little control we have over our own lives. I think this is the point which Woody Allen struggles with, perhaps more personally rather than as a potent theme of the film.
I enjoyed this film. I saw it twice in the one day I liked it that much. I had heard it was good and I generally like Woody Allen’s films, but it was actually even better than I expected. With a couple of clever twists, some likeable and intriguing characters, and some brilliant acting once again, particularly from Johansson. I actually became emersed in this film wondering what would happen next and becoming fascinated with the world Allen had created.
But perhaps this interest in the film beyond it being clever, well made and enjoyable, is the interest in what Allen is exploring, what he is digging at, reaching at, yet struggling to grab hold of.
And that is some sort of meaning in life.
With a film based around adultery, it you don’t have to look too deep to see the sin in this world represented.
But as I said, Allen digs deeper than the obvious.
Deception for example. It is obvious in the example of adultery. But in the context of being deceived by the world, by finding happiness in riches, by ambition and striving for a life where one could have everything they dreamed of, this is a level of deception perhaps much less obvious to the world. The average viewer would think it only common sense for Chris to take the high paying job in order to get what Chloe and Tom’s family have – more money than they know what to do with, except own beautiful estates, horses, companies, apartments by the river…
Chris gets these things in marrying Chloe. But he is still not satisfied.
See, Woody Allen himself knows what it is to want, to get, and to be left still wanting. He said in an interview that he started off making films to achieve a certain lifestyle he always wanted to live, the lifestyle that comes with fame and fortune. But now he has it, he has to keep making films to distract himself from it. He lives film by film in order to have some purpose in his life. He is said to make films not to celebrate life, but to distract himself from the emptiness and despair that actually exists.
Woody Allen seems to be longing for something more, and I think this search is evident in all his films, but particularly Match Point.
Chris even says he is looking for “some small measure of hope for the possibility of meaning”.
Not to justify his actions, but it seems that with such lack of hope or meaning why shouldn’t Chris choose the life and actions he did?
I am the sort of person that is affected by films i see. So many films remind me of the sin in the world and the beauty of God's grace, either by referring to it or the lack of it. And I cannot help but hope and pray that Woody Allen himself finds an answer to his questions that is more than temporary. And maybe make a film about that.
That would be a change wouldn’t it – a Woody Allen film about hope, not the lack of it!
Having said that, one of the things I love about his films is the way he so subtly struggles with these big life questions beyond such interesting and entertaining narratives themselves.
This is a clever and well made film worth seeing.
3 Comments:
I loved this movie. I love where it takes you and where you think its going and then where it ends up going.
Great script. Well acted. Well directed.
Jim, short but straight to the point (unlike my little ramble hhaa)
Amen brother!
I thought Match Point was one of the movies of the year and is a contender for my top five of 2006. From what looked an ordinary year at the start 2006 has been quite a standout.
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