In "The bridges of Madison County" a woman has a secret affair with a free spirited man.
At first I thought about "Out of Africa" (1985, Sydney Pollack), in which film female lead Karen Blixen also has a relationship with a free spirited man. On top of that in both films the female lead is played by Meryl Streep.
On closer inspection the differences are more pronounced than the similarities. The legal husband of Karen Blixen is unfaithful to her on a regular basis, the legal husband of Francesca Johnson (the main female character in "The bridges of Madison County") is as faithful as can be. Karen Blixen is having an adventurous life before she meets her free spirited man, the life of Francesca Johnson is rather dull before that moment.
Elaborating on those differences I think the real theme of "The bridges of Madison County" is the tension between "safe and sure" and "adventurous and risky", a tension the old Greek new already in their mythology as the tension between Apollo and Dionysus.
There is however a second theme. The film opens with the children of Francesca discovering her secret only after her death. Even while she was their mother they never knew anything about her week of romance. This was possible because the romance did not had any "physical consequences" (as it would surely have had in films belonging to another genre). It had however "emotional consequences". In the second half of the film Francesca is a much more independent person than she was at first. Despite moral disapproval from the community, she remains the friend of a divorced woman.
For Clint Eastwood (the male lead in "The bridges of Madison County" and the director) Robert Kincaid was not his usual character. His usual character is tough and rather conservative, while Robert Kincaid is charming and free spirited, more the usual character of Robert Redford (the male lead in "Out of Africa").
"The bridges of Madison County" is a good romance in that it portrays the romance of two people not so young (and beautiful) anymore.
A bit moralistic was in my opinion the children of Francesca learning lessons from her story with regard to their own marital problems.
At first I thought about "Out of Africa" (1985, Sydney Pollack), in which film female lead Karen Blixen also has a relationship with a free spirited man. On top of that in both films the female lead is played by Meryl Streep.
On closer inspection the differences are more pronounced than the similarities. The legal husband of Karen Blixen is unfaithful to her on a regular basis, the legal husband of Francesca Johnson (the main female character in "The bridges of Madison County") is as faithful as can be. Karen Blixen is having an adventurous life before she meets her free spirited man, the life of Francesca Johnson is rather dull before that moment.
Elaborating on those differences I think the real theme of "The bridges of Madison County" is the tension between "safe and sure" and "adventurous and risky", a tension the old Greek new already in their mythology as the tension between Apollo and Dionysus.
There is however a second theme. The film opens with the children of Francesca discovering her secret only after her death. Even while she was their mother they never knew anything about her week of romance. This was possible because the romance did not had any "physical consequences" (as it would surely have had in films belonging to another genre). It had however "emotional consequences". In the second half of the film Francesca is a much more independent person than she was at first. Despite moral disapproval from the community, she remains the friend of a divorced woman.
For Clint Eastwood (the male lead in "The bridges of Madison County" and the director) Robert Kincaid was not his usual character. His usual character is tough and rather conservative, while Robert Kincaid is charming and free spirited, more the usual character of Robert Redford (the male lead in "Out of Africa").
"The bridges of Madison County" is a good romance in that it portrays the romance of two people not so young (and beautiful) anymore.
A bit moralistic was in my opinion the children of Francesca learning lessons from her story with regard to their own marital problems.