Somewhere in Time 4K 1980

I watched this movie for the first time yesterday, and although there are more original time-travel stories today—such as "The Time Traveler’s Wife"—I can say that I was simply blown away by this film.

I’ve loved Christopher Reeve for a very long time and with great passion—this incredibly handsome, athletic hunk with a wonderful heart, whose life became the epitome of courage after he spent nearly 10 years in a wheelchair, completely paralyzed, yet retained his zest for life and continued his public work. When I think of him as an actor, I can’t compare him to anyone else. He’s so special, subtle, and natural—so sensual and profound—that, I don’t know, perhaps only River Phoenix was like that in American cinema of the ’80s and early ’90s. And now, ironically, neither of them is with us anymore...

In the film “Somewhere in Time,” the actor revealed yet another hidden facet of his talent, flawlessly portraying the role of Richard, a young and highly successful playwright who, after accidentally receiving a pocket watch and a note reading “come back to me” from an elderly lady, years later, ironically, finds himself drawn into a series of events that lead him to an astonishing discovery. The woman he instantly fell in love with from a photograph in the lobby of a hotel where he had come on business is none other than the elderly lady who had given him such a strange gift—the pocket watch—back when he was young. Richard learns everything about this lady, her life, and the era in which she lived. Through the power of self-suggestion, Richard travels back to 1912 to meet the greatest and last love of his life, the beautiful Alice McKenna, played by the charming Jane Seymour, and to spend several absolutely breathtaking hours with her...

The beauty of this film lies in the fact that both actors perform so perfectly, truthfully, sincerely, and sensually that you really find yourself thinking: “Better such hours spent together than empty years spent apart.” Riva’s character became so consumed by his passion for Alice that she became his whole life, his every thought, his very breath. When Alice drifted away from him through time, his soul drifted away with her, along with his will to live.

The downside of this film, in my opinion, is that a different ending would have felt more natural... The other ending is certainly powerful, but it feels somehow wrong—incredibly sad and illogical! So much effort, such passion...