... write her more than once or twice?
Okay, he was wounded in the war, he was in the hospital, but it was a leg wound and it sounds like he was still able to write or at least communicate to get someone else to do it.
Maybe I missed something, but since Guy promised he'd write and keep in touch, and he did not, I blame him for the lost opportunity that this movie depicts so wonderfully.
Okay, I'm watching it a second time, and apparently I did miss something the first time around, so I'll take the opportunity to answer my own question.
In Part 3 (The Return), when Guy comes back from the war and goes to visit his aunt to find out what happened to Genevive and her shop, he mentions writing to her numerous times. He also mentions that her letters had changed at some point (presumably when she decided to move on and marry Roland) and that she eventually stopped answering his letters altogether.
I think the reason I was confused was because we often saw Genevive looking forward to the mail earlier in the movie, only to end up dissapointed when no news from Guy arrived.
Apparently Guy did write her, but perhaps not as often as she'd liked? Perhaps they both had a different perception of time, being involved in such different activities and settings. Time passes slowly when you're idle and bored (as Genevive often seemed to be in the umbrella shop) but surely much faster when you're in the middle of a war.
I was prepared to lay the blame solely at Genevive's feet, but after some more thinking I realize that the idleness, the pregnancy and the lack of control that entailed, the uncertainty over Guy's return, combined with the constant nagging from her head-strong mother might've been enough to make anyone lose hope.
Both of them could've done much worse in the end with their respective new partners, but it still seems unfortunate that they exchanged their fiery, unbridled passion for something luke-warm at best.
I have always interpreted it that Genevive's mom stole the letters to help her get over him, and forged responses. As time went on she didn't care as much at being accurate because she had convinced Genevive, and once she got married she didn't care at all and stopped writing. It doesn't make much sense and is a bit far fetched, but it is as good as any other theory.
My three favorite films (order changes): Vertigo, Taxi Driver, and 2001: A Space Odyssey
I suspected that too, but there really is no evidence for her doing so(on the contrary, we see her find and deliver a letter from Guy during that crucial period when Genevieve hadn't made up her mind). I think we all thought of this mainly because it's a very common plot device in film and literature.
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that part was handled a bit confusing imo
shareI agree with the previous answer - the mother destroyed the letters, manipulating her daughter to marry Cassard.
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