E-journal #2 – Letters to
Juliet (2010): Place – Verona, Italy
‘What’ and ‘If ’ are two words as none threatening as
words can be, but put them together side by side, and they have the power to
haunt to for the rest of your life. “What if?”
-Letters to Juliet-
‘What if?’ It is the
combination of two words, ‘what’ and ‘if,’ which amounts not much effect when they
are set individually. But once they are set together, it creates the
possibilities as much as the imaginations may limit. Everyone has that moment
in life that makes them think of ‘what if I did so and so...’ usually out of
regret, that they did not have enough courage to challenge the moment. The
movie, Letters to Juliet, takes place in Verona, Italy, and it is the
core element of the storytelling. The theme ‘what if’ sets in as a major theme,
and the main plots are covered in relation to the location that the story takes
place. Verona opens up the chance for the main character Sophie to write,
untangles 50 years of mystery, and lets Sophie meet her true love.
To start, Sophie’s visit to
Verona became an opening for Sophie’s writing career. Originally, Sophie was a
fact checker who always wanted to become an official writer. Sophie came to
Verona with her passionate fiancé Victor as a pre-honeymoon, because it was
confirmed that he will be busy soon after their wedding for he would open up a
new restaurant. But the tragedy was, Victor did not spare a bit of his passion to his fiancée.
Because Victor busily meets his manufacturers instead of spending his time with
his fiancée, Sophie gets lonely. One morning, Sophie steps into an alley
without noticing how the very pace would change her destiny. The alley led her
to the Juliet’s house model, where many tourists around the world came for a visit.
Pinned into the wall, letter written in 1957 was found. A girl named Claire was
desperately looking for an advice from Juliet, about what she should do for
betraying her most beloved man, Lorenzo Bartillini. Claire and Lorenzo, the
star-crossed lovers were planning a runaway, but Claire lacked courage to
commit as the plan. She was sorry but she left him without notice, and went
back to her country, England. Though it was a letter that was written 50 years
ago, Sophie, touched by its sentiments, decides to write back to Claire. Sophie’s
reply moves Claire’s heart, and Claire returns to Verona with her handsome
grandson, Charlie. Claire, reflecting “what if” of her childhood love, asks if
Sophie can help her find Lorenzo, the favor which Sophie openly accepts. They
start their journey to find Lorenzo, and Sophie starts writing, which opens up
her path for her writing career. She writes through the journey, what she felt and experienced through the journey. If Sophie did not came to Verona, she would not
have encountered Claire’s letter and wrote a reply which became a starting
point for writing her own story.
Furthermore, Verona became
the core of the story because it was the beloved land of Lorenzo. That Sophie
and Claire decided to meet Lorenzo, they were to trace back the clues to meet
him. Since 50 years have passed, nothing was clear to Claire. So they decided
to find Lorenzo in a painstaking way by visiting every single house which a man
named Lorenzo resides. On their journey, Sophie gets to move around freely with
Claire and Charlie, because her fiancé is all time busy with his business.
Though every single Lorenzo seemed to be mesmerized by Claire, she did not find
her one true Lorenzo. Then the whole plot moves to the peak when one of the
Lorenzo turns out to be dead. Since it was unverifiable whether the Lorenzo
under the grave is her lover, it brings the grave air to the journey. Charlie,
Claire’s grandson, lost both of his parents in plane crash. That is why he was
so close to Claire, and cherished her being. He enrages at Sophie, claiming
that she is the reason that made the old lady’s heart break. But in fact,
Sophie also had a similar pain. Her mother left her and her father with no
reason and it was the bane in Sophie’s heart. Soon Charlie realizes what he has
done, and delivers contrite apology. They start to open their hearts to each
other while the journey was brought to the end. When all of them were on the
verge of giving up, Claire observes a man out of the window, a man who gallops
through the grape vineyard. Lorenzo never left the Verona, because he adored
his land. Because it was Verona, Claire and Lorenzo were able to meet
miraculously again.
Finally, Verona lets Sophie
find her true love. Originally, Sophie was unable to leave her fiancé despite
his ignorant manner, because she was still shackled under the wound of her
mother’s unreasonable leave. The continuous conversation with Charlie during
the journey healed her heart, and led her to the recognition of her true love
towards Charlie. However, the journey comes to an end by the dramatic
reconciliation between Claire and Lorenzo. Sophie also had to return to New
York with her fiancé, due to the schedules. Claire looks at her grandson and
advises that he must not regret like how she did over 50 years, but instead be
courageous. When Sophie returned to New York, she breaks up with Victor,
because now their love has come to an end. Invitation letter has been received,
the one for Claire’s marriage. With excitement and anxiety, Sophie returns to
Verona. There Sophie confesses her heart to Charlie and they live happily ever
after. Because Sophie came to Verona, she was able to realize that her love
with Victor was not a true love, but rather a longing heart to depend on
someone, since she did not have mom when she grew up.
To conclude, the location,
Verona became the core of the whole plot to open up the chance for the main
character Sophie to write, untangle 50 years of mystery, and let Sophie meet
her true love. The main message was that one must follow one’s heart instead of
letting the times go wasted in regret. Rather than thinking “what if,” it is
better to commit into the present time, challenging for the one’s best. As the
result of visiting Verona, Sophie gets aspired to start her writing career, and later publishes the writing herself. Also, Claire meets Lorenzo, her first love, due to the land being adored.
Finally, Verona gave Sophie the chance to realize what true love is. All of
what could have stayed as “what if” was brought to the reality. Matthew
Donnelly once quoted that, “Life is a balance of hanging on and letting go. In
the moment, shut down the mind and let intuition give you the answer. Have no
regrets.” After all, life is conglomeration of different choices and perspirations.
Perhaps, the best way to live a life is to leave less regrets.
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