Described as a ‘sleeper hit’, the low budget Fox Searchlight production (500) Days of Summer surprised audiences and gained huge critical acclaim on its release in 2009. It picked up awards for screenwriting, acting and editing in various festivals. It would probably fall under the rom-com sub-genre of romance films, but still sports some heartbreakingly emotional and serious scenes.
The first and most obvious point to make about (500) Days of Summer is its non-linear narrative structure- jumping around between the various days of their relationship, told loosely from the memories of Tom. This is actualised with a day counter, which is an effective and easy way of revealing the time structure to the audience. It begins on day 488, with Summer and Tom- two so far unidentified characters, sitting on a park bench, her hand on top of his, a wedding ring on her finger. We then jump back to just after her splitting up with him- a day in the 300s- a good use of the Enigma code, because we as the audience assume the two have got married- but how can they if they’ve split up?
The following scenes set up characters with help of music, ‘home videos’, a vignette styled insight into Summer’s life, with a narrator. Comedy and ‘feel-good’ factor is employed in these sequences. The focus remains distinctly ‘guy-centric’, however- we learn very little about Summer’s personal life. The relationships between characters are set up very quickly- with Tom’s younger sister as the comic confidant; his two goofy, unhelpful, inexperienced male best friends and, of course, Tom’s unwavering (until the final scene) love for Summer and belief in true love.
The day counter set up is fully utilised throughout, skipping backwards and forwards in time to create contrasts and comedy. An example of when it is used to comic effect is when we jump forwards to him telling Geoffrey that it is ‘over’ with Summer. When he asks why, he jumps back, explaining that it was because of Summer’s emphasis on the word ‘good’ when he asked how her weekend was- deciding this meant she spent it having sex. The daring and muddled narrative structure, influenced by Tom’s memories allow short, snappy scenes with fast narrative progression to keep the audience interested, whilst still being easy to follow.
However, in order to draw in a mainstream audience, (500) Days of Summer uses romance conventions and clichés from rom-coms, such as the ‘falling-in-love-scene’, in the bar; the use of the ‘cringe factor’ when he first speaks to Summer; the comic, young couple in love scene as they run through Ikea, defying the rules in a ‘it’s-us-against-the-world’ kind of way.
More unconventional scenes are the ‘morning after musical scene’ and the ‘expectations vs reality scene’, which show off the artistic merit of both Neustadter and Webb, and were also both nominated for ‘favourite scene’ at the St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association. These scenes provide an art-house style, innovative take on the usual rom-come scenes, in the first one, celebrating the first time he has sex with Summer in his head through a song and dance and in the second, he learns of Summer’s engagement to an unknown man at her party, with a split screen between what he expected to happen at the party, and what really happened.
All-in-all it is the use of classic rom-com conventions, with a spruced up, non-linear narrative structure, allowing fast narrative progression, overlapping scenes with different audience perspective and comedy that makes (500) Days of Summer a successful rom-com. The characters are likeable- albeit a little unconventional in Summer’s outright opposition to love and romance, the music is good, meaningful and relevant, and there is a feel-good indie movie tone to the entire picture
The now famous expectations vs. reality split screen scene from (500) Days of Summer is truly unique piece of cinema in depicting the psyche of a man desperately in love and the reality of this love being unrequited. In terms of story, what happens is Tom goes to Summer’s party, with the split screen showing two scenarios- what Tom imagines will happen when he goes to the party, and what actually happens. In his head Summer kisses him at the door, and spends the entire night focused on him, the idea of them getting back together simply being a given. What actually happens is that Tom goes to the party, at which Summer greets him warmly, but not as a lover, and then proceeds to talk to him as any other guest, before he notices the engagement ring on her finger and runs from the party, the split screen turning into one- his expectations shattering.
The music is, as with the rest of (500) Days of Summer both critically acclaimed and fitting to the scene, with Spektor’s lyrics mirroring the on-screen action: “He never ever saw it coming at all” and “I’m the hero of the story, I don’t need to be saved”, as well as holding a mournful tone and using predominantly minor notes in the piano.
The genius of the scene really lies in the insight into the main character’s head, and the realism of this depiction of thought and expectation. It is a surrealist piece of filmmaking, but a very real portrayal of human nature. At some point in a person’s life, their expectations have been so far out of line with reality, it has left them heartbroken and shattered.
This is a subversion of convention in that this sort of split screen expectations/reality is a very original idea, especially in a romance film. The scene sets not only Tom, but the entire audience up for a fall, making the realisation of her engagement and Tom’s heartbreak even more emotional.
I apologise for the subtitling, this was the only full scene I could find on YouTube
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