"The Way We Were" (1973)

Rating: PG
Genre: Drama, Romance
Directed By: Sydney Pollack
Written By: Aurthur Laurants,
Released: October 16th, 1973
Runtime: 118 minutes
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Summary:
Katie (Barbara Streisand) is a communist against the civil war in Spain and the rise of Hitler in Europe. Hubbell (Robert Redford) is a writer, more interested in sports and is sceptic about politics. They meet in college, and years later embark on a wonderful romance in spite of their differences. They get married and move to California by which time Hubbell is adapting one of his novels into a screenplay and Katie is pregnant. Katie is still very much outspoken about her political views which inevitably leads she and Hubbell to the agreement they must separate in order to be happy. But when they meet by chance years later, the spark is still there...

Review: 

I like this film. I love the simplicity of the plot and the relationship between the two characters. Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford are brilliant. They seem to make you care about these characters without making it too sentimental. It feels natural. The film is very much character orientated as opposed to action-orientated. It’s sort of bitter-sweet too in a way. What's nice is not everything is sunshine and rainbows. Neither character is perfect, both have flaws, and the film does focus on these and how they both deal with them. Neither character is built up to be anything more wonderful than what they are, which is nice. There were moments where I was a little confused about the time frame which was a bit disorientating when watching, but once I got my bearings I really enjoyed it.

The song “The Way We Were” sung by Barbra Sreisand has of course become a classic. It is a lovely song.  It won an Academy Award for Best Music Original Song. Barbara Streisand was also nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role which was well deserved.

I don’t really know what else there is to say! This is just a really lovely film.

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