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Four Weddings and a Funeral
(1994, UK)
In Mike Newell's surprise British hit about an on-again/off-again
romance between a Britisher and an American female - who often met
at weddings (and one funeral):
- the opening scene, with a barrage of many F-words,
of bachelor Charles (Hugh Grant) and his tone-deaf sister Scarlett
(Charlotte Coleman) waking up and realizing that they were late
to a wedding - an habitual practice
- at the film's 'first' wedding between Angus (Timothy
Walker) and Laura (Sara Crowe), best man Charles' acquaintance with
American Carrie (Andie MacDowell) - and afterwards, their sharing
of kisses in her room, when she showed him different kinds of kisses
(from pecks to open-mouthed) - after explaining: ("So I noticed
the bride and groom didn't kiss in the church which is kind of strange.
Where I come from, kissing is very big...I always worry I'll go too
far, you know, in the heat of the moment") - and then after
their first kiss, Charles remarked: ("I think it would be dangerous
to take it any further"), but then after another very passionate
kiss, he added: ("That might be taking it a little far")
- the scene, after Charles and Carrie slept together
(a one night stand), when she began to play a trick on Charles by
asking: ("Just before I go, when were you thinking of announcing
the engagement?...Ours. I assumed since we slept together and everything,
we'd be getting married") - but then he realized that she was
joking - and he expressed profound relief: ("God! For a moment
there, I thought I was in Fatal Attraction. I thought you
were Glenn Close and I was gonna get home and find my pet rabbit
on the stove"); she confided: "I think we both missed a
great opportunity here
- the scene of an inept, fumbling, malaprop-spouting
vicar Father Gerald (Rowan Atkinson) reciting the vows for the "awful-wedded" marital
couple, Bernard (David Haig) and Lydia (Sophie Thompson) in the 'second'
of the film's four weddings
- the scene of commitment-phobic Charles seated at
a wedding table with many of his ex-girlfriends - squirming and cringing
while listening to their recollections
- the scene after the 'second' wedding of the charming
(and engaged!) Carrie discussing her prolific sexual history with
Charles, who hilariously recounted her experiences with 33 sexual
partners - he was designated as # 32 (one before her fiancee), after
which she summarized her recounting: ("...So there you go, less
than Madonna, more than Princess Di - I hope")
- the stuttering, nervous and hesitant 'romantic' declaration
of Charles' love for the about-to-be-married Carrie after she had
bought a wedding dress, and referencing David Cassidy's song: "I
Think I Love You": ("Uhm, look. Sorry, sorry. Uh, I just,
uhm, well, this is a really stupid question and, uhm, particularly
in view of our recent shopping excursion, but, uh, I just wondered,
if by any chance, uhm, ah, I mean obviously not because I am just
some git who's only slept with nine people, but-but I-I just wondered...uhh.
I really feel, umm...in short, to recap in a slightly clearer version,
uh, in the words of David Cassidy in fact, uhm, while he was still
with the Partridge Family, uh, 'I think I love you,' and uh, I-I,
uh, just wondered by any chance, you wouldn't like to... Umm...Uh...Uh...No,
no, no, of course not...Uhm, I'm an idiot, ha, he's not... Excellent,
excellent, fantastic...lovely to see you, sorry to disturb...Better
get on...Well, I thought it over a lot, you know, I wanted to get
it just right. Important to have said it, I think...Said, uh, you
know, what I, what I just said about, uh, David Cassidy") -
she kissed him: ("You're lovely")
- the film's highlight - Matthew's (John Hannah) poignant
reading of W. H. Auden's Funeral Blues at the moving funeral
of "splendid bugger" Gareth (Simon Callow), who died of
a heart-attack at the film's 'third' wedding: ("'Stop all the
clocks, cut off the telephone, Prevent the dog from barking with
a juicy bone, Silence the pianos and with muffled drum, Bring out
the coffin, let the mourners come. Let the aeroplanes circle, moaning
overhead, Scribbling on the sky the message: He is Dead. Put crepe
bows 'round the white necks of the public doves, Let traffic policemen
wear black cotton gloves. He was my North, my South, my East and
West. My working week and my Sunday rest. My noon, my midnight, my
talk, my song, I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong.
The stars are not wanted now, put out every one. Pack up the moon
and dismantle the sun. Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood,
For nothing now can ever come to any good.'")
Reading at Gareth's Funeral
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- the final scene of Charles, after his own aborted
'fourth' wedding ceremony that he had called off with Henrietta
(Anna Chancellor), and finally declaring his utter and true love
for Carrie in the rain: (Carrie: "Is it still raining? I hadn't
noticed") and awkwardly not asking for her hand in
marriage ("But first, let me ask you one thing. Do you think,
after we've dried off, after we've spent lots more time together,
you might agree not to marry me? And do you think not being
married to me might maybe be something you could consider doing
for the rest of your life? Do you?") - with Carrie's response:
"I do," accompanied by a kiss and a lightning bolt in
the sky
- and the final image (in the ending slide-show) of
acerbic Fiona (Kristin Scott Thomas) with a very surprising groom
- Prince Charles! - to the tune of "Going to the Chapel"
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Sharing Kisses: Charles and Carrie: "That might be
taking it a little far"
After One-Night Stand: "I thought I was in Fatal
Attraction..."
The 'Second' Wedding: Father Gerald (Rowan Atkinson)
Carrie Discussing Sexual History
Charles' Hesitant "I Think I Love You" Declaration
of Love to Carrie
Ending Scene
Fiona with Prince Charles
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