In line with The Supremes and Phil Collins, this film shows that indeed, one can't hurry love. In True Heart Susie you will witness an awkward love triangle filled with jealousy, confusion, foolishness, deceit, and a yearning for love that burns, burns, and burns Miss Susie's pure, one track heart. While the aforementioned description may seem like something along the lines of Fatal Attraction, True Heart Susie is not that kind of "romantic thriller." While other critics may chastise this reviewer's characterization of True Heart Susie as a "romantic thriller," it is indeed that.
Susie's love for William puts an entirely unique and personal touch to the idea of a romantic film so much so that Susie's emotionally intense close-ups may even elicit the viewer to recall their own personal moments of unrequited love, romantic frustration, and blossoming passion (thus making this movie a "romantic thriller" for its sometimes "too close to home" personal feel. Indeed, no other scene in the film is as powerful as when Susie witnesses that her beloved William has engaged her rival Bettina (a capricious, party loving, insincere, and unfaithful milliner from Chicago with the dress and appearance akin to a 1920s flapper indulgent in the decadence of the nightlife). Upon the realization that her love has chosen the wrong woman, poor Susie sulks in gut-wrenching despair so powerful that Susie hunches as her stomach recoils in emotional exhaustion. Any person who has witnessed an unrequited love in the embrace of another knows this feeling and Susie aptly displays the true emotions of a hopeless romantic frustrated with the cold reality that can be "love."
As awful as all this may sound, know that the story does end in a somewhat positive regard as William is enlightened to Susie's endearing support and Bettina's unfaithfulness. While you won't regard this movie as the "BEST ROMANTIC MOVIE OF ALL TIME" you will indeed respect the film for it's simplicity, personal feel, charm, and coy wit. It is indeed one of D.W. Griffith's finest films.
Susie's love for William puts an entirely unique and personal touch to the idea of a romantic film so much so that Susie's emotionally intense close-ups may even elicit the viewer to recall their own personal moments of unrequited love, romantic frustration, and blossoming passion (thus making this movie a "romantic thriller" for its sometimes "too close to home" personal feel. Indeed, no other scene in the film is as powerful as when Susie witnesses that her beloved William has engaged her rival Bettina (a capricious, party loving, insincere, and unfaithful milliner from Chicago with the dress and appearance akin to a 1920s flapper indulgent in the decadence of the nightlife). Upon the realization that her love has chosen the wrong woman, poor Susie sulks in gut-wrenching despair so powerful that Susie hunches as her stomach recoils in emotional exhaustion. Any person who has witnessed an unrequited love in the embrace of another knows this feeling and Susie aptly displays the true emotions of a hopeless romantic frustrated with the cold reality that can be "love."
As awful as all this may sound, know that the story does end in a somewhat positive regard as William is enlightened to Susie's endearing support and Bettina's unfaithfulness. While you won't regard this movie as the "BEST ROMANTIC MOVIE OF ALL TIME" you will indeed respect the film for it's simplicity, personal feel, charm, and coy wit. It is indeed one of D.W. Griffith's finest films.