112 WEDDINGS (review)

112 WEDDINGS

Directed by Doug Block

Like 112 WEDDINGS director, Doug Block, I too moonlighted as a wedding videographer to fund my passion for film. However, unlike Block, I didn’t make it past two weddings before realizing just how overwhelming the entire wedding industry can be. After 20 years and 112 videos, Block has stopped to take a look back at his repertoire. At first, he finds himself feeling privileged for having had the opportunity to have been with so many people on their special days, when their emotions are as high as their adrenaline. Then he finds himself wondering where these couples are now, which allows him to abandon wedding videos for the moment and embark of his very first marriage video.

Block realizes earlier on in his journey that getting any sense of what a marriage is like requires more time than a few hours with a couple, and as that isn’t possible, he opts for more subjects instead. He gives us a glimpse of who they are, where their heads were at on their big day and then we sit and chat with them about where they’ve been since. This back and forth is a genuinely winning equation. As he ordinarily never sees these couples again after they drive off in their limos, he never gets to see them experience life. Couple after couple reveals to him how they’ve come to know the true meaning of for better and for worse, in both their marriage and their individual lives within that marriage. It becomes very clear very quickly just how much hard work it is to keep a long term marriage alive and well. It is also clear just how rewarding that can be.

Though not all of his 112 couples are still together, Block doesn’t position 112 WEDDINGS as some sort of warning to young couples thinking about taking that walk down the aisle. Instead, by talking about the reality of what comes after the wedding, he finds that the love that was so bountiful on all these wedding days is the same love that kept so many of these people together all this time. I, for one, am happy to know that, while romance may need a reality check, at least it isn’t dead.

Your turn!

How many sheep would you give 112 Weddings?

[kkstarratings]