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In today’s post, I wanted to share with you readers one of my favourite films: Bridget Jones's Diary. The movie is a romantic comedy, directed by Sharon Maguire and written by Richard Curtis, Andrew Davies, and Helen Fielding, and it’s from 2001. In my opinion, it’s a classic. It doesn’t matter how many times I watch it, never loses the charm and never fails to make me laugh.
With this said, the plot is about Bridget Jones, the protagonist, a girl in her thirties whose life as nothing exciting. Namely, she is an unconfident woman, single, with unhealthy habits (she smokes a lot) and weight insecurities. On the other hand, Bridget is not afraid to fight for what she thinks is right, she always demands justice. Sometimes she acts too impulsively without thinking about the consequences of her actions or in what she affirms, providing the funniest moments to the viewers. In addition, Jones likes to dream (who doesn’t?) writing down her thoughts and feelings, the attitudes to the situations that happened to her almost every day in a form of a diary. She decided to start a diary after in one party, hosted by her parents, she ears Mark Darcy (a man that she had known since her childhood, and doesn’t like because she sees him as a rude person) grumble to his mother about her attempts to set him up with "a verbally incontinent spinster who smokes like a chimney, drinks like a fish and dresses like her mother". Consequently, she decides to turn her life around starting to write her diary in which she registers the progress of her weight loss, her attempts to stop smoking and her search for the right man.
Mark Darcy is a highly-qualified lawyer. He can be described as very intelligent, a good-mannered man, yet a little cold. At first, he seems to be the wrong men, but you know what they say: “Don’t judge a book by his cover”.
Furthermore, Bridget Jones works in publicity at a book publishing company in London where she spends half of her time fantasising about her boss, Daniel Cleaver. To elaborate, Daniel Cleaver is an arrogant and egocentric man, who is not satisfied with just one woman. The worst thing is that Bridget is aware of it. For her own surprise, Daniel starts sending her flirtatious e-mails and they have a date one night. In this dinner, Daniel reveals that he has a past with Mark - the boys attended college together - and that Mark had an affair with his fiancée broking their friendship.
Subsequently, Bridget and Daniel start an affair. She knows that she should not date him, but she can’t resist the temptation. Still, it does not take long for her world to fall again when she finds out he is cheating on her. Once more, she vows to take control of her life. Thus, she decides to cut ties with Daniel and find a new job, starting a new career as a presenter on a TV current-affairs program. Then, at a friend’s dinner party, she bumps into Mark, who surprises her when he tells her that he likes her just the way she is.
Bridget starts to develop feelings for Mark, but in the meantime Daniel doesn’t seem to want to give up on her, coming back to Bridget because he is jealous of Mark. Another essential point is that the viewer ends up finding out that after all, it was not Mark who destroyed the friendship between the two male protagonists. Daniel lied: it was Mark who discovered that his wife, just a week after the wedding, was betraying him with his best friend, Cleaver. Both mans want Bridget attention and give life to one of the funniest scenes from the film in which Mark challenges Daniel to a fist fight and they engage in a hilariously clumsy tussle.
Above all, Bridget Jones is truly a real character. Renee Zellweger, that gives life to the character, does a wonderful interpretation. Bridget is a highly relatable character showing that not everyone lives a fairy-tale.
Moreover, Bridget is very self-aware, acknowledging her flaws, for instance, her problem with smoking.
In addition, she often gets frustrated with the ones that she loves, since her family tends to judge her actions (especially her mother) and judge the fact that she is still single at the age of thirty. Although we know that they love her very much.
And even in the moments that her life doesn’t seem to get worse, she always has wonderful friends whom she can count on without hesitation. They will be there for her anytime she needs – good and bad moments.
Everyone has problems, each person has insecurities and fears, and Jones does what she can to overcome her struggles. One of the main reasons for me to love this movie (besides the comedy, of course) is that Bridget is not the typical perfect girl with a wonderful life who finds her prince one day in a lovely afternoon by chance. In fact, she is a character that shows the real-life issues and the anxieties of a day to day basis. Daniel represents that man that is a synonym of problems and headshake, the man with whom you will never be happy because deep down you know that he probably won't ever settle down, and only cares about himself. You should never have to be subjected to this situation. Last, I like the development of Bridget and Mark’s relationship throughout the film, she deserves a man that truly cares about her.
In conclusion, Renée Zellweger, Colin Firth and Hugh Grant did an amazing job, and the other actors as well. Bridget Jones’s Diary is inspired by a romance from 1995 by Helen Fielding, and I would like to read the series of books one day. The film is a masterpiece, and I guarantee you that you’ll have a good laugh. From my point of view, the plot also teaches a good lesson.
Finally, here is the trailer for the film:
What did you think about Bridget Jones’s Diary?
Mariana Nunes
2 comments
I totally agree, Bridget Jones is a classic!!
ReplyDeleteI love the films the books and I absolutely adore Bridget.
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Her personality is awesome, she's hilarious. I am looking forward to reading the books, I am very curious to see the differences between the films and the books.- Mariana
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