Take This Waltz Part 2: A Beautiful Cautionary Tale on Love and Desire (Film Analysis)

LINK TO PART 1!!!
Frustrated with everything, Margot leaves the house at night, announcing loudly outside that she’s going for a swim.  Her voice is directed at Lou, but her crescendo in volume is directed at the next door house she’s eyeing inquisitively.  David hears her call and begins following close behind.  The pair continue walking separately like strangers, the facade disappearing as soon as they reach the pool and go for a late-night swim together.  It's a magical moment for Margot until Daniel crosses a line and caresses her leg.  Margot snaps back to her senses and heads home, finding Lou sitting peacefully out in the backyard, enjoying the night.  There’s some crafty symbolism used here as the two share a loving moment together, albeit separated by their home’s window—unable to hear each other (it's a nice little touch that the radio can only be heard on Margot’s side, emphasizing the disconnect).  It’s only when Lou goes inside to embrace Margot that the barrier is broken.

The next day Daniel walks alongside Margot and inquires about Lou in a belittling tone:

Daniel: What does your "husband" do?

Margot: Why the quotes?

Daniel: Because I find the word husband hilarious.

Margot: He writes cookbooks.

Daniel: Cookbooks?

Margot: Chicken books...

Daniel: Chicken… cookbooks...

Margot: Books on how to cook chicken.

Daniel: Just chicken?

Margot: Yes, just chicken.

Daniel: Do you eat a lot of chicken?

Margot: You have no idea! But he is a really good cook.

Daniel: If you like chicken... Do you like chicken?

Lou comes out and finally meets Daniel, showing complete obliviousness to what's going on between him and his wife.  Lou shows genuine hospitality to Daniel and becomes ecstatic when the latter offers them a ride on his rickshaw.  At dinner, Margot becomes disarrayed that she and Lou have nothing to talk about, even when Lou points out how it’s because they know each other so well and that it’s alright to occasionally have nothing to say.  This pushes Margot to seek Daniel and spend the entire day with him having fresh, romantic adventures.

It is here where the film hits its most memorable and fantastic piece of imagery.  The pair go to an amusement park and take a ride on an indoor scrambler that is distinct for flashing colorful strobe lights in the dark while playing music.  The way the film cuts to this scene gives it an almost detached, dream-like feel—isolated from the rest of the story.  The song played is the peppy synth-pop cover version of Video Killed the Radio Star by The Buggles.  The aforementioned elements combined with the colorful strobe lights and ride movement gives the scene a very blissfully surreal feeling.  All problems dissolve away as Margot, Daniel, the crowd, and the audience become enraptured by the moment.  I love how Margot starts bobbing her shoulders to the song’s beat drop—turning to smile gleefully at an equally entertained Daniel.  The ride picks up as the chorus begins, the adrenaline-fueled pair having the time of their lives.

There are a bunch of blink-and-you’ll-miss moments of the other riders, all enjoying the magic whether alone or with someone else.  A couple can just barely be seen making out as the ride spins around, and that same passion builds within Margot and Daniel as they bounce back and forth—coming very close to locking lips with a clear yearning in their eyes.  Guilt seems to overcome Margot in the moment, however, as her face turns somber.  Yet, unexpectedly, a similar guilt forms over Daniel as well.  Whereas previously, Daniel could have imagined any scumbag or jackass married to Margot, he now has a face and persona to the attempted cuckold.  He knows Lou is a good-hearted person who genuinely loves Margot and, for the first time, feels shame for his actions.  Yet the moment’s ecstasy begins to recapture them as the music crescendos, only to stop right at the climax when the ride comes to an abrupt halt.  The jarring, unceremonious end to the magic harshly shakes both characters and audience out of dreamland back into reality.  The stark contrast from the mesmerizing electric music and lively colors to the mundane background noise and dreary silver and greys is a perfect foreshadowing of their relationship.

The two call it a day and initially seem to be parting ways, but as Daniel goes into his house Margot decides to walk in as well.  Margot hops onto Daniel’s bed and asked what he is going to do about it.  Daniel refuses to do anything, stating it's up to her to decide.  Margot precedes to break down into tears over the entire ordeal, with Daniel telling her she should go home.  What I enjoy about this scene is that it gives the impression that the film's going to end on a conventionally positive note with Margot ultimately not having an affair and Daniel pushing her back to the man that truly loves her.  Such deception is reinforced by the following scene where Margot and Lou hang out together and a sweet and loving manner. 

Yet fate has other plans as Lou himself invites Daniel over during a party—trying to be a hospitable neighbor.  Daniel tries to decline but Lou insists, inadvertently pushing temptation further as he asks Margot to show Daniel where the beer is alone.  Daniel tells Margot that he’s realized he too hates being stuck between things and has decided to move away.  Daniel does just that, leaving a parting gift postcard of a lighthouse as he drives off.  Margot shows open heartbreak at this event and, for the first time, Lou catches on that there's something more going on.  Margot initially tries getting over her “missed opportunity” but can’t after having a dream of her and Daniel meeting at the lighthouse years later to share a passionate, romantic moment.  The film’s structure is exceptionally fluent in making Margot’s decision here understandable.  Society has a habit of pushing us to follow our dreams, and not let an opportunity pass by.  For Margot, Daniel represents that once-in-a-lifetime chance at an amazing life—that letting him slip away would end up being her biggest regret—keeping her awake at night just thinking what could have been. 

I can’t blame her, the temptation of something new in exchange for something old is something everyone has experienced at some time—and I don’t doubt she would occasionally think about what could have been had she chosen to remain with Lou.  But she doesn’t.  The audience doesn’t hear what Margot actually tells Lou, they merely see the aftereffects, and it is a very powerful sequence of brief scenes strung together as Lou comes to grips with what’s happening.  Seth Rogan can act ladies and gentlemen, and it’s on full display here as Lou goes through various emotional responses—sadness, anger, disappointment, etc.  He cries in one moment, then chuckles in disbelief in another.  He pushes away Margot angrily, then tells a joke to lighten the tragic situation.  He acknowledges that deep down, he may have known something was wrong but hoped it simply would go away.  The series does a wonderful job capturing the pain of separation.  Lou then asks Margot to take a shower for him and in a heartbreaking scene reveals himself as the cold-water culprit:

Margot: You?

Lou: Yes.

Margot: Every-

Lou: Every day.

Margot: There's no…

Lou: There's no problem with the water. Or, something has to be corrected. I just thought... one day I'll tell Margot… that I've been doing this through her whole life... And it will make you laugh. It's kind of a long-term joke.

Margot: begins tearfully laughing

A defeated Lou very softly and kindly pushes Margot to go after Daniel, who has been following Lou around like a puppy yet to fully grasp her decision.  With the Band-Aid now ripped off, Margot starts running in a big damn moment right out of big damn Hollywood to find Daniel.  She runs right to the beach where Daniel often works and initially can’t find him until, SURPRISE, he shows up right behind her as if expecting Margot to show up saying "There you are."  The film deceived me not once, but twice as Margot appears to be getting her happy ending.  The film breaks into a passionate montage of the pair moving into their new house.  The scene rotates around as Leonard Cohen’s Take This Waltz plays as the tow break into a passionate, sexual montage.  It’s a beautifully bittersweet scene emphasized by Cohen’s lovely song.   Interpretation of the song is one of a man singing about the death of a former lover.  Perhaps it’s playing here in response to the death of Lou and Margot’s marriage, or perhaps it's playing in response to the death of Margot’s fantasy.

The pair are shown trying every position and every style of romance possible including two threesomes (one with another woman and one with another man), yet as the scene continues their passion seems to grow less and less as time goes by and routine soon takes over—sitting together watching TV as life grows into the same mundanity as before...except it isn’t the same.  When Margot tries starting some cutesy talk with Daniel—saying she “wuv's” him—Daniel shows no interest in participating.  When Margot goes to pee in the bathroom as Daniel is brushing his teeth, Daniel leaves the room.  The special kind of intimacy she had with Lou is lost with David, and as the initial fantasy passion disappears, Margot finds herself in an emptier relationship than before.  

As a last-ditch effort to rekindle their spark, the pair head prematurely to the lighthouse to have their kiss.  Daniel’s reassuring yet doubtful statement of being happy they didn't wait beautifully encapsulates the film’s overall message.  Their love is that of Eros—formed out of sexual passion and lust—powerful in the moment but fleeting in the long-run.  What Margot was growing with Lou was Pragma—the longstanding love formed from commitment, understanding, compromise, and tolerance.  Geraldine sums this up for Margot in a harsh but truthful way; “I think you really f***ed up Margot, in the big picture. Life has a gap in it, it just does. You don't go crazy trying to fill it in like some lunatic.”

Margot and Lou—who has published his chicken cookbooks to much success—end up having one final conversation in the film, catching up with some lighthearted banter that Margot has been missing lately.  Things go well until Margot starts asking if Lou ever thinks they could get back together.  Lou drops a harsh bomb on her and flat-out rejects any such possibility:

Margot: Do you ever think ...?

Lou: No, I don't. I don't think so.

Margot: You said you're not seeing...

Lou: Some things you do in life, they stick...

Lou's cold response is entirely understandable given what Margot did to him—if anything, it shows strength to resist temptation and repeat the cycle again.  Margot has made her bed and now she has to sleep in it—her true biggest regret being letting Lou slip out of her hands.  The film then returns to the opening shot of Margot baking a cake, now revealed to be her current situation.  Margot goes and embraces Daniel from behind—perhaps in an effort to make their failing relationship work and not make the same past mistakes. Whether they can make it work or not is left up in the air as Margot seemingly returns to the scrambler to ride alone.  Is the final scene merely in Margot’s head—remembering a time where life was fun and magical?  Video Killed the Radio Star is a song about nostalgia so it’s certainly a possibility.  Whatever the case, Take This Waltz ends with Margot going round and round, laughing and giggling at first before dropping the smile in uncertainty.

Take This Waltz is a deceptively powerful cautionary tale for any generation's youth (and those older who have not given up their immature ways) about love, commitment, and consequences.  Its main trio are fleshed out, dynamic beings each with their own endearing and not so endearing traits.  The film places its audience into the mindset of Margot, allowing them to empathize with her actions and predicament even when they don’t agree.  My viewpoint on Daniel and Lou has changed the most since 2011.  Where I once found both parties to be on equal terms of likability, I now find myself sympathizing far more on Lou’s side.  That’s not to say Daniel is unsympathetic, nor that Lou is without his own faults—but it’s clear my experience with love and marriage has altered my perspective.  

Take This Waltz has aged like fine wine.  It’s an exceptional film all-around with fantastic storytelling, great characters, beautiful cinematography, and a refreshing, rebellious nature of forging its own path away from Hollywood convention.  Curiosity causes me to ponder how I’ll view this film in another decade or so.  Will my experiences once again alter my perspective?  Only time will tell, but for now, Take This Waltz remains one of the finest pieces of art to release in the 2010s.