In London, Iris Simpkins (Kate Winslet) is a wedding columnist for a popular newspaper. She has been in love with fellow colleague Jasper Bloom for three years and he has just gotten engaged to another colleague, the woman he cheated on Iris with. Over in Los Angeles, Amanda Woods (Cameron Diaz) is a highly successful movie trailer maker who has just broken up with her boyfriend and doesn’t shed a tear. Both women find each other on a home exchange website and both their worlds are turned upside down as they switch houses for two weeks. Along their journeys, Amanda learns to love and Iris learns to let go in this film by Nancy Meyers.
Iris has just been assigned to write about Jasper Bloom’s wedding. Iris and Jasper had been together for three years prior to this event, until Iris caught Jasper cheating on her with the woman Jasper is now marrying. Despite having found Jasper cheating on her, Iris stays friends with Jasper, being to in love with him to let go. At nine minutes and forty-five seconds, Iris is on her way home from the office party where the wedding was announced. The fact the love of her life refuses to love her back is tearing her up inside.
This shot is completely brilliant in my opinion. Iris is feeling completely alone, has no one by her side or loving her and in this shot two couples are on either side of her. This over-exemplifies the feeling that Iris is utterly alone. A couple frames after this one, three more couples pass her as well. Everyone around her has someone to love and be with and she is all by herself, small and lonely. The couple in front of her is also very tall, making her look ever more miniscule and pathetic. Like I said before, the fact that the love of her life is marrying someone else is tearing her up inside and this is clearly visible by the expression on her face. She is just looking down, lost and drowning in the feeling that she will never have anyone to love her back. The wide shot allows more people in the shot at a given time, so this makes the couples idea work so well. Being able to see all the couples and Iris.
When I was looking through the movie for snapshots, I figured that I was looking for a shot where a lot was happening. But then I saw this and when I really thought about it, realized this was a well planned out shot. Am I reading too much into it, or do you guys agree that the couples were put there for the exact reasons I explained?
