The highest realm of watching a movie is not about extreme analysis but about fully immersing yourself until you become one with the characters in the film. You are them, they are you; you feel moved and inspired, and the film truly belongs to you. This movie is like that.
I watched the movie four times before writing this review, and each time I felt more deeply moved.
Tom, influenced by popular songs and movies (especially "The Graduate") from a young age, always believed that unless he found his destined one, he wouldn’t be happy. In contrast, Summer, due to her parents' divorce, didn't believe in love at all. After various experiences and breakups, Tom stops believing in love while Summer starts to believe.
At the end of the film, the two reach a consensus, which is the core message the writer and director painstakingly convey: love exists, but meeting someone is a coincidence; there's no need to cling too much to one person. As the voice-over says when Tom meets Autumn, "You can't ascribe great cosmic significance to a simple earthly event. Coincidence, that's all everything ever is. Nothing more than coincidence." Meaning, destiny never manifests as a single, unique earthly event. Love is part of the universe’s grand design, and of course, it can happen more than once. Summer met Tom by coincidence, Summer met her husband by coincidence, and Tom met Autumn by coincidence. As Summer said, what if I had gone to the movies? If I had come a little later? Then we wouldn’t have met, right? Exactly, it’s all coincidence. There’s no singular destiny; destiny is never a single event. Destiny is coincidence, chance encounters, and it’s not that it has to be you.
Don’t let movies, pop songs, or young adult literature corrode you. Love is never so singular to the point of hysteria. The writer and director are truly considerate.
Love is a coincidence; when love leaves, don’t cling too much. This is the theme of the entire movie.
The film also reveals three typical stages of a relationship. Initially, both parties quickly discover many commonalities and feel they’ve found a soulmate (like Tom’s initial infatuation). This is the stage of seeking similarities. Then, they slowly find some differences, even within their similarities, leading to some discord, which gradually expands. This is a crucial test. At this point, communication, tolerance, and compromise are needed; this is the stage of acknowledging differences. One shouldn’t rigidly demand the other to change, as it could easily lead to a breakup. In the third stage, both parties deeply understand each other, and the distinctions between similarities and differences become less clear. The relationship stabilizes and begins to have a familial nature. This stage can be called the fusion stage. Seeking similarities, acknowledging differences, and then fusing—these are the three stages of love.
Of course, Tom and Summer’s relationship is unique, both romantic and friendly, but these stages still exist.
Love is a coincidence. Love needs to go through the test of acknowledging differences. A breakup isn’t scary; thinking too highly of the other person might mean you haven’t discovered their flaws yet, meaning the relationship hasn’t been tested. It’s natural to feel pain; after all, true feelings don’t fade away quickly. But rationally, you need to be clear-headed; there’s always a process of acknowledging differences. Just like Tom’s gradual reflection breaks his previous perfectionism. Don’t idealize things too much; it’s like filling yourself with a fantasy that doesn’t exist. Pull yourself together, maybe jokingly curse “bitch,” then study hard, work hard, live well. Love is not a singular coincidence; there’s always a new fate ahead.
To the one you loved, say, "I really do hope that you are happy."
The future is bright because destiny (including love) is not a singular coincidence; the path is winding because everything (including love) must go through three stages.
Looking back at the movie, it’s truly successful, at least from my perspective. It made me watch it four times and write my first movie review. The lead actors, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel, performed very vividly. The director also beautifully conveyed the theme. A few scenes left a deep impression: the contrast between expectations and reality, the sketch-like treatment of Tom’s despair when leaving Summer’s house, the non-linear highlighting of the 500 days, and the joyous dance with pedestrians in the middle. I really felt ecstatic with Tom. The movie’s use of details, the text on the walls, and the lyrics of the inserted songs all have implied meanings.
Finally, a shout-out to the movie’s music, especially the opening and closing tracks, they are truly beautiful.
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