MovieChat Forums > Legends of the Fall (1995) Discussion > Susannah had no business staying!

Susannah had no business staying!


She was nothing, but trouble playing musical chairs with the brothers. Then, when she sees Isabel on the street with Tristan & kids, she can't contain her weeping & jealousy. As soon as Isabel dies, she throws herself at him at the jail. Alfred was a big dummy too. Why he'd marry that poisonous broad is beyond me. That's my thoughts on the characters....

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They all act like they have no options. Most of the characters are manic depressive IMHO. I know they are in the middle of nowhere Montana, but they aren't poor and have the means to travel, and make changes (obviously).

I really like the movie for the most part, but the obsessive behavior displayed by the main characters....you wouldn't want to hang out with them too much. The Anthony Hopkins character is the best one, and most level-headed of the bunch.

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She stayed when the brothers went off to war because she was betrothed to Samuel. When they came back without Samuel, she decided to stay because she dearly loved Tristan.

Then Tristan inexplicably leaves Susannah to travel the world seeking meaning in life, eventually writing her to inform her that their relationship was dead and to marry someone else. Since she was left high-and-dry and had a history with Alfred, who clearly loved her and was now a successful congressman, she thought it only made sense to marry him.

Her visiting Tristan at the jail wasn't exactly "throwing herself at him." She still loved him and vice versa, which they expressed with tenderness and care. She obviously wanted to express her condolences after Isabel's tragic death and confess her love. But it ended there; Tristan put the kibosh on it. No one knows how far Suzannah was willing to take it (since we can't read her mind), but I think she knew there was no possibility of a life with Tristan, even a secret affair. In other words, the exchange at the jail was sweet, but it couldn't and wouldn't go beyond that brief moment.

In light of all this, I would hardly pigeonhole Suzannah as a "poisonous broad." I've known "poisonous broads," but she isn't one.

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She wasn't 'legally' a member of the family because she didn't marry Samuel. But they had already welcomed her into the family and made her a part of it by the time Samuel was killed. It wasn't that weird. Seemed to me the main reason she wanted to stay was that she was already falling in love with Tristan, even before Samuel went away. Yes, Alfred was an idiot. Because love made him one. That's what a lot of these old stories are about. Love turning normally intelligent people into irrational idiots.

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