Same Time, Next Year

1978 US
Dir: Robert Mulligan
Str: Alan Alda, Ellen Burstyn

Why can't we find this stunning movie in Japan?
I've never come across this excellent movie in video shops or video rental shops in Japan. Even it seems the movie has never been introduced into Japan except possibly on TV, for there is no Japanese title to it, as far as I checked. Correct me, if wrong. It's very sad indeed. Because Same Time, Next Year is an astonishingly beautiful and warm movie, including beautiful seaside scenary (though most scenes were shot indoors), excellent performances from both Alan Alda and Ellen Burstyn, and an incredibly beautiful theme music composed by Marvin Hamlisch. With all these elements combined together, this movie seems to have succeeded in becoming one of the most unforgettable movies ever made. Therefore, if actually never introduced into Japan, I hope someone will bring it into Japanese market some day.
What is the story like?
The story begins with the scene where Alan Alda and Ellen Burstyn meet in a restaurant in the first time. Despite the fact both already have their own spouse, they are attracted to each other, and find themselves in a cottage room lying together in the next morning. Thereafter, they continue to meet every year in the same time and at the same place as in the first time they met. The movie shows us six rendezvous at five years interval. So actually this movie is composed of six separate sections, between each of which clips from actual news reels and movies taken from during that particular five years period are inserted. This is nice touch, enabling viewers to easily notice the passage of time by retracing their own memories.
I like this kind of conversation-oriented-movies. But the reason
might be.....
Essentially, the movie is based upon a stage play. Therefore, most of the scenes take place in the inside of a seaside resort cottage, and there are no significant character players other than Alan Alda and Ellen Burstyn. Because of this, for the persons who always want to watch adrenalin pumping action-packed movies, this movie might seem to be boring. But, for the persons who are craving for the movies that can provide excellent performances and sheer pleasure of hearing interesting and sophisticated dialogs, this movie is definitely a must. To tell the truth, as for the latter aspect (sophisticated dialogs), I feel I should refrain from overly stressing it. Because, as I am not a native English speaker, I always feel this kind of conversation-oriented-movies somewhat fun. For example, I like the movies based upon Neil Simon's plays, even including the ones that have received bad rating due to heavy reliance on so-called one liners such as Last of the Red Hot Lovers. I think I like these movies because whatever conversations that are spoken in the language other than my own country's; i.e. Japanese, can more or less arouse some interest on me (after all, they are relatively new to me compared to Japanese conversations whose freshness has long been worn out for me), meaning my interest in these movies doesn't necessarily originate from the inherent qualities of those movies. So I feel I am not in a position I could discuss whether conversations in a particular (English spoken) movie is sophisticated or not. In this regard, as Same Time, Next Year frequentry refers to sexual subjects, it might hardly be able to be called sophisticated. But, anyway, I presume the attitude toward sexual matters broadly varies in a country to a country. Rather, conversely, I would like to know what native English speakers think of the dialogs in this movie. Though this becomes a slight digression, the scene Alan Alda talks about his impotence with his mother over the phone is quite curious, for such a scene is higly unlikely to happen in Japan probably.
Two Lead Players are absolutely marvelous.
Besides this, the performances of two lead players are topnotch. Alan Alda is a very strange actor, for, in spite of being essentially a comedian, he seems to be always tense. Also in this movie, his tension never wanes. Especially the scene where he plays Beethoven's piano sonata in front of pregnant Burstyn because, as they can't do the usual practice due to her pregnancy, he has to divert his tension by another method, suggests his supercharged intensity very well. On the other hand, Ellen Burstyn is a very soft-tempered actress. She seems to have an ability to tranquilize intensity by her elastic flexibility. Recent years, I feel difficulty to find the actress who has this precious feminine ability (Presumably Annete Bening is one of them. See American President. Michael Douglas is an extremely intense actor. She softens up his intensity.). Sharon Stone, Demi Moore, Jodie Foster, etc. Though they might be called beautiful actresses, they look rather neutral for me. Just external beauty doesn't necessarily make an actress the most attractive female figure. Those recent actresses seem to strive to gain reputation just in a male oriented field by mimicking male oriented way. I am not going to continue this argument any further, lest I infuriate some ardent funs of those actresses. Additionally saying, I am not saying they are bad. Anyway, this Burstyn's softness is a good match for Alda's intensity. You will be able to surely enjoy the conversations of these two players who have completely opposite disposition.
These two still care for each other after almost 30 years has
passed. Can you?
Each time they meet, they find out a certain aspect on his/her partner that has changed from the previous time they met. Alan Alda gradually becomes a very conservative person, while Ellen Burstyn gradually gains intelligence and an ability to handle business deals tactfully. Therefore, sometimes they lose the clue on the partner, and start quarrel trying to understand each other. But, in spite of all of this, they still care for each other after almost 30 years has passed since they firstly met in 1951. The last scene where these two are embracing on the top of a seaside cliff with the sea reflecting the sunlight of dusk clearly shows us this fact.
Two thumbs up for Marvin Hamlisch's music, and, of course, the
movie itself.
It should be added that the scores composed by Marvin Hamlisch is also great. Not only beautiful, but also well fitting to the overall ambiance. Marvin Hamlisch is the person who, in 1973, got two Oscars by the movie The Way We Were (Title song sung by Barbra Streisand is everybody's favorite), and another one by Sting (Arrangement), which amount to three Oscars just in one year by one person. For this Same Time, Next Year, he composed very beautiful scores too, and was nominated for Oscar once again. Surely the scores he composed is one important asset of this movie, and, without it, the film might have had completely different impression upon viewers, worse or better. Finally, I would like to say Same Time, Next Year is one of my most favorite movies of all time. So if you are not such a person who only likes action movies or horror movies, you will surely be able to have a good time while watching it, and get a warm feeling after having finished watching it.

Go Back to Movie Reviews Main Page