Like Crazy

Last night I watched a heartrendingly beautiful independent film called Like Crazy. It follows the story of Anna and Jacob two young adults who meet at L.A. University. She’s a budding journalist on exchange from England and he has a passion for designing and building furniture. She had noticed him in her classes and after plucking up the courage, she left him a message on his car - giving him her number and telling him how she felt. He calls her and they arrange to meet for coffee. This is the start of their long complicated but intense relationship. As a writer she had always struggled with wording her emotions and instead kept a journal of photos and thoughts as their relationship progressed and about what her relationship had meant to her. She would more often than not show him these instead of telling him. However their happiness is short lived as she was on a student visa and had to return home during the holidays. They both hated being apart and so on one occasion; she overstayed her visa instead of going home so that they could spend more time together. A decision with had severe consequences affecting several years of her life, when she was unable to return to the USA and thus fuelling subsequent rejections to grant her permanent stay.

This is a simple story of love in the real world. It’s not glamorous and neither character is perfect or beautiful like those out of a Jennifer Aniston movie. They are two people who are just like you and me who have normal jobs, ambitions and face life’s obstacles. They are just two people trying to make their way and find happiness at the same time. Anna and Jacob are two young people who are in love but cannot be together. Their love was so strong and mutual that the only thing that kept them apart was the physical distance from each other. He was unable to shift his budding business to be with her and she was unable to move to the USA. He’d travel to be with her and then fly back and continue his life. This was heart breaking to see. Sometimes obstacles in relationships aren’t solely within one’s self but sometimes the outside world can intervene. They both start seeing other people but always thought of the other and felt that what they had with each other meant so much more than what they’d had with anyone else. The emotional connection they had, devastated their subsequent relationships.

This film had me in tears throughout. I think the fact that it was a very low budget heavily improvised film made it more real and therefore easier to relate to. It made me see how beautiful LOVE can be. I believe that despite all you can see, achieve and experience in life yourself – no matter how successful you are in your job or financially, your successes in love can mean so much more. It goes straight to your heart.

I believe that one of man’s greatest achievements has always been the ability to love - the ability to love another with all your heart and to look beyond your needs and fulfil another’s wholly. To love someone truly incorporates the ability to appreciate and respect another person fully and learn from them. You can learn so much about yourself, about what is important in life through your love of others. As William Shakespeare wrote in A Midsummer Night's Dream ‘the course of true love never did run smooth’ but that’s the beauty of it surely. Love is a constant learning experience. It pushes you to your boundaries again and again and again. Hence why people fall in love and get heartbroken but if asked whether they’d do it all again, they’d say yes without hesitation. The feeling is unlike anything else in the world. It consumes you, possesses you, and goes right through to your soul. It’s amazing!