Hero

A few months ago I wrote about the movie ‘500 Days of Summer’ that was then soon to be released. It was released this past Friday and I watched the movie last night and loved it. For me, the best movie of the year thus far. Partly because it is a very typical ‘me’ movie, with the music, the comedy/romance, the obscure pop cultural references, the actors, etc. But also because it was an honest and modern take on love, romance and heartbreak for the 20 somethings of the world today. It isn’t your typical romance that’s too sentimental, unrealistic or sappy. It’s refreshing, realistic, for the times and more important, relatable.

There were two particularly sublime scenes in the film. I won’t be giving the details away here, but one was a scene that took place in Ikea and the other was a brilliant, artistically and technically crafted split screen scene that compared expectations and reality. The brutal truth in the actuality of how that happens in life was stunning. The song used in the latter scene was Regina Spektor’s ‘Hero’. It’s a painful ballad that exudes sadness and frustration, with deep depressed piano keys. The lyrics speak to the movie and the main character with lines such as ‘He never ever saw it coming at all’, creating a sad sympathy for the protagonist, as all he is is in love, and he is not aware of the pain he is about to endure. The highlight of the lyrics that really address the movie is ‘I’m the hero of the story, don’t need to be saved’, which, with pin point accuracy, depicts the protagonist’s frustration, because though he is the hero, he needs immense saving from the crushing anguish of lost love.

Regina Spektor - Hero