Greatest Film Scenes
and Moments



Truly Madly Deeply (1990)

 



Written by Tim Dirks

Title Screen
Movie Title/Year and Scene Descriptions
Screenshots

Truly Madly Deeply (1990, UK)

In director Anthony Minghella's romantic ghost fantasy:

  • the scene in this fantasy drama in which devoted boyfriend and cellist Jamie (Alan Rickman) returned from the dead as a 'ghost' to join his inconsolable, bereaved lover Nina (Juliet Stevenson), an interpreter, and speak to her
  • he gave an explanation for his return: ("I dunno, maybe I didn't die properly. Maybe that's why I can come back. It was like standing behind a glass wall while everybody else got on with missing me. It didn't hurt. And you know, I'm very sensitive to pain. It really didn't hurt")
  • after they kissed, he spoke about her pain on the back porch: (Jamie: "Thank you for missing me." Nina: "I have. I do. I did." Jamie: "I know. But the pain, your pain, I couldn't bear that.")
  • his description of a local neighbor girl who died - a story about how parents should lovingly embrace their children: ("There's a little girl. I see this little girl from time to time. Alice, who's three, three and a half. And she's great. Everybody makes a big fuss, but she isn't spoiled. Well, she wasn't spoiled. She was knocked over and she died. And her parents and her family and her friends from kindergarten. Well, she used to go to this park. And she was telling me, they made an area in the park, gave the money for swings and little wooden animals. And there are these plaques on each of the, on the sides of the swing, the bottom of the horse, from Alice's mum and dad: 'In loving memory of Alice, who used to play here.' And, of course, Alice goes back there all the time. You see parents take their child off the swing and see the sign. And then they hold onto their son and daughter so tightly, clinging on for dear life. And yet the capacity to love that people have. What happens to it?")
  • the scene of their lengthy proclamation of their love for each other: (Nina: "I love you." Jamie: "I love you." Nina: "I really love you." Jamie: "I really, truly love you." Nina: "I really, truly, madly love you." Jamie: "I really, truly, madly, deeply love you." Nina: "I really, truly, madly, deeply, passionately love you." Jamie: "I really, truly, madly, deeply, passionately, remarkably love you." Nina: "I really, truly, madly, deeply, passionately, remarkably, uhmm... deliciously love you." Jamie: "I really, truly, madly, passionately, remarkably, deliciously... juicily love you...." Nina: "Deeply! Deeply! You passed on deeply, which was your word, which means that you couldn't have meant it! So you're a fraud, that's it!...(They hug) You're probably a figment of my imagination. (pause) Juicily?")
  • their singing of "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore" (accompanied by his playing on the cello) and then their joining together in a piano duet
  • toward the end of the film, Jamie recalled the first night that they spent together when Nina asked him to describe it: "What did we do?" - he remembered: ("We talked...Well, talking was the major component. You played that piano. Then I played, then we both played. Something, duet. Something, I can't remember. And then you danced for about three hours, until I fell asleep. But you were fantastic. And then we had some cornflakes. And when we kissed which was at about 11 o'clock the following morning, we were trembling so much, we couldn't take off our clothes")
  • later, he recited Pablo Neruda's Spanish poem La Muerta to Nina (which she translated line by line from Spanish to English) when she was beginning to decide that she was ready to move on from Jamie: ("Forgive me...If you are not living...If you, beloved, my love, if you have died... All the leaves will fall on my breast... It will rain on my soul all night, all day... My feet will want to march to where you are sleeping... But I shall go on living.") Jamie then asked Nina: "Do you want me to go?" She tightly hugged him: "No, never, never, never."
  • however, Jamie's fellow ghosts came to him and asked if he was going to leave Nina if she was ready to move on to a new relationship - with art therapist-psychologist Mark (Michael Maloney). One asked: "Well?", and Jamie responded: "I think so. Yes."

Ghosts Asking If Jamie Was Going to Leave Nina

Jamie's Response to Ghosts: "I think so. Yes"
  • in the next scene, Nina admitted to Mark: "I think I am free. I did love someone very much, you see. Very much. But he died. He died. And I found it quite hard to get over it"; that night, she would be sleeping over at Mark's house after purchasing a toothbrush at a pharmacy

Nina to Mark: "I think I am free"

Sleeping Over at Mark's Place, With Her Toothbrush
  • the next day, Nina cleaned up her apartment knowing that she was moving on in life; that evening, the ghosts with Jamie watched from her upstairs apartment window as Nina kissed Mark at her front gate and left for good to be with Mark from now on

Ghostly Jamie (with Other Ghosts) Watching Nina

Nina Kissing Mark at Her Front Gate
Jamie's Final Goodbye While Watching Nina and Mark Leave

"Maybe I didn't die properly"


Kissing - And Then Telling Her on the Back Porch: "Your pain, I couldn't bear that"


Story About Neighbor Girl Who Died

Lengthy Proclamation of Their Love

Singing "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore"


Nina Listening as Jamie Recalled Their First Night Together

Jamie Reciting Pablo Neruda's Spanish Poem

Hugging Tightly After He Asked - "Do you want me to go?"

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