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lisalu (3)
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When Connie was in the bathtub with Edward and they were sitting face to face, this was a person who knew her so intimately that she knew she couldn't look him in the eye. You can kind of see her trying to look at him and she can't hold his gaze. It is the uncomfortable intimacy that makes her want to get away from him.
I agree with you 100%. What makes the movie so compelling is that there is no valid "reason" for the affair, it's not always as black and white as people imagine it to be. If Connie and Edward had had a bad marriage - or even a good but stale marriage - there wouldn't have been the same tension. The tension comes from Connie's conflict: she loves her husband, he is an attractive man who pays attention to her, and they have a good sex life. She has no "reason" to cheat on him and she doesn't really want to, yet she is caught in the riptide of this unexpected encounter with an experienced <i>drageur</i> who offers nothing but mad, passionate afternoon sex. She is not a "mom" or a "wife" when she's with him, she is just a woman with a man and she tries in vain to compartmentalize the relationship. We watch her battle with herself as she gets caught up in something way over her head.
The scene in the restaurant with her two friends defines the dilemma perfectly. One friend declares she'd sleep with that gorgeous guy in a minute in spite of being married (but since it's not really an option, she is "safe" in saying it.) The other friend quickly tells her it is no joke, it ALWAYS ends tragically - and clearly she knows this from personal experience. Connie is caught in the middle, having succumbed the lust the one friend expresses but hasn't acted on, and only steps away from experiencing the tragedy the other friend warns about.
The movie also puts a twist on the "Married Man Has an Affair, But Still Loves His Wife" trope which we all know so well. Men might be expected to have an affair strictly based on sexual attraction, but women are assumed to only "fall in love" with another man if they are unhappy at home. Not true! And again, the writers made the correct decision in making the marriage nearly perfect - because the moral of this story, like you said, is about what <i>anyone</i> can and will do, given the right circumstances.
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