The Notebook is one of the most popular romantic films made in the twenty-first century, and for good reason. The film tells a love story that touches the depths of the soul and leaves a mark on it. The film opens like a typical melodrama: there is a guy and a girl, Noah and Ellie, who love each other. But there is one “but” – the girl’s parents are categorically against such a union, since the guy comes from a dysfunctional and poor family, and the girl, on the contrary, never got used to denying herself anything. There is a turning point when the parents still manage to separate the couple. It would seem that this is where the love story ends, because according to the plot of the film, the characters continue to live on, they have new hobbies and new people in the environment. But everything is not so simple, because fate intends to make its own adjustments to this story, and the viewer understands that true love never passes, and it is worth fighting for.
In the end, after seven years of separation, the heroes meet. Noah and Ellie lead to this meeting by their own actions: all the years of separation, Noah did not lose hope that Ellie would come to him, and he fulfilled his old dream – he repaired the old house, which Ellie knew about. Therefore, after the girl sees a photograph of Noah in the newspaper against the background of this very house, she decides to go there, to him.
This meeting changes everything in their lives, because it was after her that Ellie, despite the persuasion of her mother, who at one time found herself in a similar situation and made a choice in favor of a marriage of convenience, and not for love, decides to leave her fiancé and moves to Noah. A love story with a happy ending – isn’t it the perfect romantic movie?
However, life goes on, and the director shows the viewer not only a certain period of time, but the whole life of a couple – the story about young lovers begins, ends and is interrupted by inserts that show an already elderly couple. The woman lies in bed and the man reads a book to her. This book is the story of young Noah and Ellie. It becomes clear that the elderly couple from the nursing home are Noah and Ellie. They lived a long and happy life together, raised three children. But Ellie is sick – she has Alzheimer’s. The book Noah is reading was written by her when the illness was just beginning to progress.
At the end, Ellie remembers the whole love story, and asks Noah if they, like real lovers, can die on the same day. Noah answers in the affirmative, and that same evening they both die, holding hands until the very end.
The heroes carried the bright feeling of first love through their whole lives, and even death met them at the same time. There is a simple truth in this that the director wanted to convey – true love exists, and it is important to preserve it, fight for it and cherish it throughout life.
The meaning of the ending of the film “The Notebook”
The film itself, and especially its ending, is obviously trying to convey certain values to its viewer. First of all, it makes us remember that in our life, in addition to everyday life and routine, there is something much larger and really requiring attention – these are such fundamental things as loyalty and love. On the example of the life and love story of the film’s characters, the director showed that we must not forget the people dear to our hearts, those people who evoke the warmest feelings in our souls. Otherwise, life will have no meaning, and this is the most terrible prospect for any person, even if he himself does not admit it.
The film’s ending proves that true love conquers all and cannot lead to a bad ending. Initially, a seemingly doomed union between a poor carpenter worker and a beautiful woman from a wealthy family eventually led to the fact that the two people found happiness for life. Therefore, one more thing that the director reveals is that it is always necessary to listen only to your heart, analyze criticism and opinion from the outside, but make a decision on your own, despite the lessons and reproaches of others and the social attitudes of society.
In the end, everyone who watched the film “The Notebook” will find something for themselves in it. It will reveal truths that may have been in the head for a long time, but did not find the correct and necessary response in the heart. The love story that the characters of the film were able to carry through their whole lives will not leave anyone indifferent, regardless of their views and attitudes.
