50 Years Later, This Romance Masterpiece With Barbra Streisand Is Even More Relevant
It's time to revisit this forgotten gem.
In 1973, Barbra Streisand released the song The Way We Were – the hit conquered the charts and had a long and happy life on records. The single was included on the soundtrack of Sydney Pollack's melodrama of the same name, a vivid story about the relationship between a military man and a political activist, starring Robert Redford and Barbra Streisand.
Pollack's film is an unusually vivid and dramatic canvas that shows the relationships of people who are radically different from each other.
The Movie's Main Force Is Its Brilliant Lead Duo
The movie's main attraction is the unforgettable duet between Robert Redford and Barbra Streisand. He is the Brad Pitt of New Hollywood, she is a brilliant singer who has discovered remarkable acting skills. The relationship between Katie and Hubbell is not melodramatic, but uncomfortable, as it is in the lives of people with different characters and ideals.
Hubbell is a darling of fate, moderately frivolous and traditional, Katie is an activist who leads left-wing communities and stands up for all the oppressed. He basks in the joys of life, she gnaws away at the right to consolation in struggle: fatal inevitability will separate these opposites.
The Way We Were Is Not Your Typical Melodrama
The Way We Were is a melodrama not about magnetism and the unifying magic of love, but, on the contrary, about the impossibility of coexistence, about the right to remain oneself and the need to let go. If, for example, in The Umbrellas of Cherbourg the characters are separated by circumstances, in Pollack the seeds of discord are ideals.
A ringing voice and silence, a public person and a private person – Katie and Hubbell have burned the last of their bridges, leaving only memories of each other. As we know, opposites attract, but for how long?
The Way We Were Was a Huge Hit
Another reason for the movie's fame was the memorable song by Barbra Streisand. On September 27, 1973, The Way We Were was released as a single – no one expected such success, accompanied by huge sales of copies and records in the charts.
The explosive song played into the movie's hands, popularizing it even before its premiere. A marketing lesson that should be written down in all notebooks: if you want a brilliant promotional campaign for a movie, just release a hit three weeks before the start.
This story will turn out to be a long one: Streisand will be called an outstanding singer and actress at the same time, and Pollack's film will win two Oscars in 1974, one of them for the best song, The Way We Were.