Jiin Jeong, Hyeyun Jeong
‘ If Only( 2004)’ is a romantic film about Samantha and Ian, a couple living in London. Sam is an aspiring musician from America who shows great affection for her workaholic boyfriend Ian. The movie starts with the couple’ s morning as Sam wakes up Ian and presents a brown coat as a gift to him. While preparing breakfast, Sam gets burned, and as the day progress, several misfortunes occur; Ian’ s watch breaks, Sam’ s coat is ruined, and most importantly, Ian’ s meeting is interrupted by Sam. Throughout the day, Ian is shown as an insensitive boyfriend who is too involved in his work to pay much attention to Sam.
As Ian gets on a taxi to attend Sam’ s concert, the eerie music and the foggy background creates suspense that is further substantiated by the taxi driver. The taxi driver seems to know all about Sam and the couple’ s estranged relationship. He even seems to know about the future for he asks Ian“ What if she( Sam) never came back?” To this question, Ian replies that he couldn’ t live without her. With the encouragement of the cab driver, Ian brings Sam flowers for the concert but they get into a conflict over dinner and Sam leaves alone in the cab. When she dies in an accident, the driver’ s supposition becomes reality. Sam will never come back and Ian is devastated. The role of the cab driver is one dramatic aspect in the movie for he plays an almost omniscient God-like figure, predicting things beforehand and offering solutions.
After the accident, Ian returns home and finds a song written for him by Sam. He cries over it and eventually falls asleep. The next day, he wakes up to find Sam lying next to him and realizes that he has another chance to live the day when Sam died. Remembering what the taxi driver told him, to“ appreciate her” and“ just love her”, he tries to prevent all the mistakes he made before; however, every misfortune happens again, just in different ways. Ian tries to tell Sam about what he experienced but Sam doesn’ t believe him. Ian realizes that he can’ t prevent Sam dying so he makes the day unforgettable for her. They travel to his hometown and go to Sam’ s favorite diner. Ian also gives a charm bracelet to Sam and before they get in the cab, Ian thanks Sam profusely for teaching him how to love.“ Samantha, if not for today, if not for you, I would never have known love at all … So thank you for being the person who taught me to love … and to be loved.” This‘ scene in the rain’ is one of the most romantic and heartwarming scenes in the movie which contains the central message the film was trying to convey all along: we need to appreciate every single moment when we have the chance, we need to set our priorities straight, and we shouldn’ t be afraid to show love for our loved ones.
In the end, the couple gets into the car together and like Ian expected, the crash comes; however, Ian dies by saving Sam and Sam lies in the hospital, sadly remembering Ian and the warning he was trying to give all day long.‘ If only’ is a phrase used to express a regretful wish. After Sam’ s death, Ian wishes‘ if only’ he had appreciated her more when she was alive and after Ian’ s death, Sam wishes‘ if only’ she had listened to his caution. In the end, the movie is telling the audience that people are often left with regretful wishes after their actions, but those regretful wishes are what change people. Ian hadn’ t realized that spending time with Sam would be so important and devoted most of his time on business. The death of Sam taught him otherwise and by regretting‘ if only’, he turned from a businessman to a man who knew how to love.
An American singer and rapper Dana Elaine Owens, also known as Queen Latifah, once said“ I made decisions that I regret, and I took them as learning experiences... I’ m human, not perfect, like anybody else.” This is what“ If Only” is about, taking your regretful wish,‘ if only’, and using it to improve on your life. Although having a chance to relive a fateful day like in the movie is impossible,‘ if only’ can still help people realize the importance of time, the importance of little things, and the importance of living the moment.
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