The original title of the 2009
film, The String, is
Le Fil, which actually translates as thread rather than string. These
two English words have different connotations and this bears on the film’s
leitmotif. Whereas a person can string another person along, a thread has a
connotation of linking people emotionally. The thread that ultimately succeeds
in the film is that of caring, which is antipodal to hurting, emotionally
speaking. In this sense, the film is like The Holiday (2006),
another romantic drama in which the good guys (and gals) wind up on top. In terms
of the theme of caring and not hurting other people, that The String centers
on two gay men who fall in love whereas The Holiday is about two
heterosexual couples matters little, though the resistance to homosexuality in The
String is an additional hurdle. I contend that like The Holiday, The
String can provide audiences with how falling in love can proceed naturally
without exploding because one person hurts the other. In other words, the ethical
wins out in both films in regard to emotionally intimate romantic
relationships, and in this respect the medium of film has value in terms of
ethics.
The full essay is at "The String."
