Blume in Love (1973) – DVD

**½/**** Image A Sound A
starring George Segal, Susan Anspach, Kris Kristofferson, Shelley Winters
written and directed by Paul Mazursky

by Travis Mackenzie Hoover Paul Mazursky is at once clear-eyed and fogged-up in his hot-button relationship movies. His best film, Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice, dips its toe into the waters of swingerism then rushes back to the beach–Mazursky immerses himself in the California psychobabble about with-it relationships only to return to standard heterosexual coupling. Similarly, Blume in Love wants very badly to be about cheating, divorce, and the attendant emotional fallout of both, but unfortunately, Mazursky the observer of mores keeps getting tangled up with Mazursky the traditional romantic, meaning he broaches subjects with which he ultimately refuses to deal. Blume in Love is watchable and often compelling when it's doing nothing at all, but it mistakenly turns a blind eye to the astounding solipsism of its protagonist for the sake of love conquering all.

The Blume in question is Stephen Blume (George Segal), somehow predictably a divorce lawyer who's very much in love with his wife, Nina (Susan Anspach). Alas, "wife" isn't exactly the word for her these days: as our man was discovered in a dalliance with his secretary, he and Nina are resolutely divorced. Unfortunately, Blume cannot accept this: he obsesses over the memory of her love and winds up pestering her and her homeless musician boyfriend, Elmo (Kris Kristofferson). Though he has a regular lover in the also-divorced Arlene (Marsha Mason), it's not enough–Nina is the one for him, come hell or high water. Alas, Nina is equally determined to keep Blume at arm's length, even once she stops being angry, thus driving him to desperate measures.

For part of the film, Blume's behaviour is well-drawn. He's totally lost without his wife of six years, and Mazursky makes him confused at the opportunities for casual sex (a nervous encounter with a swingers' group) and meaningless monogamy (his long-term but loveless turns with Arlene). If the message is telegraphed, it's at least sincere, and there are a few uncomfortable exchanges that seem completely genuine. Arlene's horror that she's willing to accept Blume and his oblivious insults is the high point of the movie–an awareness that desperate people are wont to make do with what they've got lest they plunge into some possible, unknown failure. Likewise, the film's California is a convincing cluster of failed musicians, would-be gurus, and brainless sexual adventurers who serve as reminders that one really ought to be getting home to normalcy.

The problem is that Blume goes beyond the usual lovesick puppy. His behaviour frequently veers into stalkerish territory, which Mazursky is never able to entirely patch over: Blume is constantly knocking at Nina's door, peering through windows, listening in through the door of their mutual psychiatrist, and otherwise intruding where he doesn't belong. (Worse, he does something unforgivable during the final half-hour for which he is annoyingly–and misogynistically–forgiven.) And Mazursky is so determined to give us closure that his sometimes-pithy observations about his selfish protagonist go flying out the window: the circle must be closed and all must be hearts and flowers. Blume in Love smothers the good nuggets of truth with a wet blanket of male self-regard; the stillness that had suggested wisdom is shattered. Mazursky is just one more masculine palooka who'll fix the fight to his advantage, no matter what the stakes.

THE DVD
Warner's DVD transfer is crisp enough for such dishonoured stillness. Matted to 1.78:1, the 16×9-enhanced image does great justice to Bruce Surtees's cinematography, keeping the darks well-saturated while finely detailing the light surfaces that comprise the film. The accompanying Dolby Digital 1.0 track is excellent, too, dimensional in a way one doesn't normally expect from a single-speaker mix. The only extra: Blume in Love's theatrical trailer.

116 minutes; R; 1.78:1 (16×9-enhanced); English DD 1.0, French DD 1.0; CC; English, French, Spanish subtitles; DVD-9; Region One; Warner