"The Obscure Object of Desire" Continued.

"The Obscure Object of Desire"
On a personal note I loved the complexity of this film from the passion emanating from Matthieu to the mirrored disdain from Conchita. The obscure object was not just desire, nor was it everything Conchita represented to Matthieu but it was something much more subtle represented throughout the undertone of the film, much more akin to the need of self completion through an imaginary source. Conchita was as much of an unattainable mirage to Matthieu as the reflection to Narcissus and yet in the end they both knew better but ultimately met their demise due to being constantly drawn back to this thing that had them both so caught up. Lacan also noted strongly on the false sense of self we can obtain through the illusion of control of things outside of ourselves, and this is exactly the trap that Matthieu fell into. He was enraptured by Conchita a woman outside of his reach, whom he could never control yet he was determined to try anyways, because he was driven by a force that was so beyond his own control yet he was totally unaware of it. Conchita being played by two different actresses was perfect, the first representing the "good girl" and the second representing the "bad girl", throughout the movie it was almost exciting to predict based on the mood of the scene who was going to appear, such as in the scene where they are at the country house, The bad Conchita arrives and is playful, flirtatious, and demanding but once it comes time for the demands of Matthieu to be met in comes the good Conchita who is noble and often frigid to his advances. Yet this act only drives Matthieu further down the rabbit hole of his own undoing. The constant use of terrorism in the background of the film was intriguing, based on the timing it often seemed to be a way to practically emasculate Matthieu rendering him helpless many times and showing that he was "too noble" to admit the he was scared and taken advantage of by men often younger and rowdier then himself. The ending of the film was a nice modern line drawn between to "tragic" love stories, yes it pays homage to Tristan and Isolde but to me more importantly it is playing on the tragic faults of Matthieu and his insatiable need for Conchita. Even after he has forsake her he still comes back for more, which perhaps puts him in the right place and the right time for a terrorist attack, a sign that Matthieu is not the one in control of his life.