Metroland (film)
Metroland is a 1997 British comedydrama film directed by Philip Saville and starring Christian Bale and Emily Watson. Written by Adrian Hodges, based on the novel Metroland by Julian Barnes, the film is about a man whose calm and predictable life is disrupted by the sudden reappearance after ten years of his best friend, which leads him to remember his carefree youth in Paris, to question some of his lifestyle decisions, and to reevaluate his life and marriage. Mark Knopfler wrote the score and produced the Metroland soundtrack, which is supplemented by some additional tracks appropriate to the period depicted in the film.
In 1977, Chris Christian Bale and Marion Emily Watson are leading a quiet married life with their child in Eastwood in the London suburbs known as Metroland, the staid commuter region at the end of the London Undergrounds Metropolitan Line. Their predictable life is disrupted by an early morning phone call from Chriss boyhood friend Toni Lee Ross, who has returned to England after several years of wandering through Africa, Europe, and the United States as a bohemian poet. Years before, the two shared a dream of fleeing slow suburban death to live in avantgarde splendor in Paris. Tonis return sparks memories in Chris about their wild days in Paris in the late 1960s.Disillusioned about the lifestyle hes chosenhaving abandoned his youthful passion for photography for a steady job as a London bankerChris takes long walks at night, making lists in his head of things for which he should feel grateful. Feeling that something is missing in his life, Chris sees in Toni the person he could have becomea free spirit living a vagabonds existence without ties or responsibilities. Toni openly looks down on Chris for his acceptance of middle class complacency, a mortgage, and a ninetofive job. One night, Chris goes to a punk rock club with Toni who gets him stoned on cannabis. Idealising his friends lifestyle, Chris begs Toni to reveal his secret for happiness, and Toni responds that its doing what you want, not what others want. ........
Source: Wikipedia
