Format:

The script follows a typical “frame story” format where the first plot line tells the same story as the second, and the characters correspond with each other. The viewer is asked to understand each story as a clue to the other, so that in the end, one arrives at the whole truth. The movie depicts Alex as a writer and Emma as his stenographer. As Alex dictates his story to Emma, the characters in the novel bear a striking (and intentional) resemblance to the characters in the film. In Alex’s novel, the main character Adam (Alex’s double) falls in love with the beautiful, charming, seemingly wealthy, hard-to-get Polina. While staying at her house for a summer as a tutor, he meets and also falls in love with the ever-changing “au pair” (Emma’s double). Adam (Alex) must later choose between the two loves of his life. Besides the fact that the four main characters have similar names, the novel he writes also reveals the changing nature of their relationship. Subsequently, both stories unravel together. The film also uses allegory as it explores the relationship between art (Polina) and experience or real life (Emma). Is it possible to have both? More on that later.

As a writer, I am particularly partial to the idea of using stories as a backdrop for reality. It can be said that stories are an excellent medium for expressing and exploring truths. Both the frame story and the allegory accomplish this feat. But, the parable also accomplishes this feat and that was the teaching format Jesus used most often. Jesus regularly explained complex truths using every day scenarios. In fact, I would say he avoided dissertations and lectures, and rather embraced the power of an allegory.

Commitment and Intimacy:

When we first meet Alex, he is portrayed as a desperate, poor, hypochondriac who has suffered a severe blow to his emotions. Having been dumped by his ex-girlfriend, he experiences writers block and cannot seem to find his muse. Under pressure from the Cuban mafia, he whispers a quick prayer in the closet, “God help me.” Enter Emma one scene later. He has lured her to his home under the false pretense of being a lawyer in need of a stenographer. Thus, he begins the relationship with a lie. Nevertheless with some prodding, Emma decides to help him. Alex explains (at her prompting) that his previous book was about a man so afraid of commitment that he thought it would kill him. Nothing has apparently changed. As the two continue working together, Alex suddenly asks, “Who are you?” revealing that over the course of several weeks, he has never taken the time to get to know her. Just as they are getting close, however, Alex tells yet another lie. Emma finally asks about the character Polina, and Alex claims she was an amalgam, a combination of many different women in his life. As Alex and Emma become closer and closer, Alex wants to develop a level of commitment and intimacy (as evidenced by his character Adam who becomes increasingly attracted to Anna because she is “comfortable”), but continues to fear it. It is not until Alex is faced with losing Emma forever (when the real Polina appears) that he finally faces his fears and admits that she is the only one he trusts.

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