Review of The Notebook (2004) by Kean Hooi T — 24 Oct 2013

Love, I do believe it can get a whole lot simpler. It's about the everlasting, never failing and unconditional "giving". For most of the time, we have to realise that "receiving" is too much to ask for but we do hope that love can be a two-way communication and interaction at some point.

The term, "love", is a very plain and simple four letter word but yet it can be the unelaborated sensation of either the mind, body, soul or perhaps all of them at once. So it has never been how much the others can provide you but how much are you willing to sacrifice to contribute to others. With that part understood and done well, that would be "love" in its purest form, untouched and uncontaminated.

I do believe that love comes from the heart and its intention would be the most sanctified of all other thoughts. However, if we process the original love with our brain, it tells us otherwise. Our brain is a calculative, cold and unhallowed central processing unit that we have. It informs us with what's best and what's the most feasible for our plan. Sometimes, it deceives us and transforms us into a wicked, inconsiderate and detached person that we seek to avoid. Simply put, "what's pure from the heart is turned impure by our brain." Do we just let it be or do we struggle to find a balance between both of them?

To be honest, I've sat there throughout the 120 minutes runtime trying very hard to get myself to maybe like the film but I ultimately failed. It's just not possible for me do it. My mind told me that there was neither a cause nor motivation in it that can move my rigid yet fragile heart.

Nonetheless, Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams surely have given their best in the film. The setting is pretty perfect for such love story and some of the scenes are quite well done, especially the one with both Noah and Allie taking a ride on a boat out on the river. I love that scene as it's beautiful. The colour tone is right, the depth of field is very well done and the characters' emotion is candid. Although I didn't manage to hear the whole soundtrack that is in the film due to quite a lot of reasons but I guess the background music and sound effect should have set the right tempo and feel for most scenes.

However, I couldn't help but to notice this film bearing some similarities to my all-time favourite, Forrest Gump. The Notebook is the kind of "perfect" love story most people will fall for but it's sad that I'm not buying it. Maybe I could like the novel, who knows? It's time to put the notebook away and carry on with life.