... There is nothing in it, and I look at everything - I do not take my eyes off. There are people in the world who do not want to rule the world, do not want to become famous, do not want to earn much, do not want to conquer their beauty, do not want to outdo their sense of humor, do not want the latest BMW model in luxury configuration, do not want to dress in elite brands, do not seek to make the necessary acquaintances ... in short, people for whom prestige, respectability, fame, wealth, privileges are just words, but not values or goals. People without ambition, people who don’t think they deserve a special fate. Peaceful people, kind; for whom the simple joys of life are the main joys, natural and necessary.
Larry and Maria, the heroes of this film, are just such people. They are inwardly free; they work to live, not to live to work; they do not intrigue, they are honest with each other and with themselves; they do not consider themselves the smartest of all, and with an open heart meet new, sometimes unexpected turns of fate. They are positive, bright; they do not want to harm anyone, and therefore every time they decide to take a serious step, they think about the consequences for a long time. Surprisingly modest, devoid of remuneration, generous, they consider themselves "little" people. And for the simple reason that they do not consider their happiness more important than the happiness of loved ones, and their feelings more sublime and unique than those of others, they are ready to give up love. They avoid pathos, do not like to dramatize, ironically treat themselves, do not try to squeeze out of the relationship more than it really is and therefore, rather tend to underestimate the depth of their feelings and their importance to each other.
There are movies that capture their inexplicable charm. Reflecting on Cousins, I tried to articulate the undoubted artistic merits of this film. The subtlest psychology and humanism? Nope. The tragedy of human limitation, of finiteness? Nope. Secrets of the subconscious? Nope. Philosophical disclosure of the foundations of being? Nope. A wildly twisted plot? Nope. Brilliant dialogue? Nope. A unique story that amazes the imagination? Nope. A new word for melodrama? Nope. Could it be a revelation film that changed my view of the world? Nope. Super-special effects, brilliant camera work, modern editing? No, no, no...
I'm afraid I can't explain what's exceptional or extraordinary about this film. Because there's neither in it. But he conquered me with his simplicity and his integrity. Laconic, deep, harmonious. I always come back to it, revisit it again, in a month, two, three, five and... I can’t look at it. I think I'm in love with this movie. For real and long. This is my film.
Joel Schumacher is known as the master of the thriller, and when I first watched Cousins, I was waiting for a good half of the film for some trick, violence, murder, or, at worst, a hero who turned into a pervert, and when nothing happened, I was surprised. Nicely surprised.
Woven of warmth and light, the film is amazingly human. He does not respond at all to the trend of getting skeletons out of family cabinets, revealing the background of the family members of the main characters, presenting his grandfather as a pedophile, his grandmother as a kleptomaniac, his father as a latent homosexual, his mother as a free exhibitionist artist, his son with asperger’s syndrome, and his daughter as a lesbian and drug addict. In contrast, allheroes are absolutely normal. With its advantages and disadvantages, oddities and highlights. But there is nothing criminal or shocking about any of them. Nothing to ignite unhealthy curiosity in the viewer.
It's a simple story. A story of great love, absolutely earthly and a little immoral. The story of good people, open to the world and with age did not harden their hearts. The story of their relationship, gentle and trusting, flavored with soft humor. The story of two strangers endowed with an enviably benevolent attitude to life, unbiased and wise, and a genuine interest in all the miracles and funny little things that happen.
I want Larry and Maria to be real, to have as many people as possible, to be so deeply sympathetic to me, so close that I don’t want to let them go, and so I come back to this movie over and over again. "Family faces! Aren't you tired yet? laughs the husband, but after a minute he sits next to me and, like me, doesn't take his eyes off the screen.
Magic movie. Outrageously simple and insanely charming.
9 out of 10
P.S. The film is based on a screenplay by Frenchman Jean Charles Tucket and is a remake of his 1975 film Cousin cousine. In my opinion, this is the rare case when the French plot, having fallen on American soil, did not lose the original at all and even surpassed it in some ways.