Four Weddings and a Funeral

The film follows the fortunes of Charles and his friends as they wonder if they
will ever find true love and marry. Charles thinks he's found "Miss Right" in
Carrie, an American. This British subtle comedy revolves around Charlie, his
friends and the four weddings and one funeral which they attend.

Plot
Slightly bumbling and always tardy Charles and his closest group of friends
seem always to be attending weddings but are never the bride or the groom,
and as such, each, with the exception of gay couple Gareth and Matthew, is
looking for love. At the wedding of their friends Angus and Laura where
Charles is acting as best man, Charles meets an American woman named
Carrie. For him, it's love at first sight. She too is attracted to him. Although
they spend a memorable evening together, that's all it ends up being. Over
three more successive weddings - some of the brides and grooms who are
very near and dear to Charles' heart - and one unfortunate funeral, Charles
runs into Carrie, but something always seems to prevent the two from getting
together. He also runs into a plethora of old girlfriends, one of whom he may
believe is really the one he was meant to end up with, especially if Carrie
seems to remain unattainable. Will Charles settle for who in his heart is
second best, or will fate finally bring Charles and Carrie together?

setting
The movie was released on May 13, 1994 in the UK and was directed by
Mike Newell. The book, on which the movie bases, was written by Richard
Curtis.
Although it seems to wander all around the British isles, from Somerset to
Scotland, the template for the whole genre of British rom-coms was filmed
entirely in London and the surrounding Home Counties of the southeast.

You can find the London flat of Charles (Hugh Grant) at 22 Highbury Terrace,
on the northwest corner of Highbury Fields at the junction of Highbury Terrace
Mews, N5.

A lot of people seemed to think that the funeral of Gareth (Simon Callow) took
place in South Wales, all looming steelworks and the Severn Bridge, but its
actually Essex. The church is the tiny St Clement, West Thurrock, Essex.
Background and themes
The theme of Four Weddings and a Funeral is romance and true love. Why
am I always at weddings but never getting married? What does it mean?
asks Charles. Marriage seems a too big commitment to Charles. This is why,
although he has plainly lost his heart to Carrie from the moment he met her,
he just cant bring himself to tell her and even when he does, hes far too
indirect. Charles pays a huge price for his shyness Carrie marries someone
else, and in despair, Charles gets engaged too. However, in the final scenes
Charles declares his love in a very public way: I realized for the first time that
I totally completely love one person, with all my heart, he says.
As the title suggests, it is not just Charles who falls in love in Four Weddings
and a Funeral. Overweight Bernard kisses plump Lydia and it is as if the sky
has fallen down. Two of Charless friends, Gareth and Matthew, are
homosexuals who live together. Gareth dies, and Matthews moving speech
at the funeral plainly shows how much he loved Gareth: He was my North,
my South, my East, my West, my working week and my Sunday rest ... he
says, quoting from a poem by W. H. Auden. There are those who suffer
unrequited love, as the proud, wealthy Fiona does for Charles. She suffers in
silence for much of the film but by the end she has apparently recovered it
is a comedy, after all.
Four Weddings and a Funeral takes a light-hearted look at romantic love
and in the end, the boy does get the girl. Four Weddings and a Funeral is a
very British story. Charles and his friends are typical of a certain kind of
British person: they are fast, clever and funny and it is very important to them
never to be serious. Charles is typically British in his inability to be direct. The
story is not over-sentimental the death of Gareth provides a sad backdrop
to the gaiety of the weddings, and Fiona nurses a broken heart. Like all really
good stories, it creates a world of its own a world where most people seem
to be having a good time; a world which readers would like to be a part of.

characters and weddings

1. wedding: Laura and Angus
2. wedding: Lydia and Bernard
3. wedding: Carrie and Hamish
4. wedding: Henrietta and Charles

Charles (Hugh Grant) is already described above

Carrie (Andie MacDowell) American who works for the Vogue
Scarlett (Charlotte Coleman); lives with Charles, desperate about her love-
life, crazy, funny
Fiona (Kristin Thomas); in love with Charles, smokes, intelligent, pokerface,
Fifi
Tom (James Fleet); brother of Fiona, rich, friendly
Gareth (Simon Callow); Scottish, smoking, drinking, married, gay, passionate
dancer, humorous
Matthew (John Hannah); married, Scottish, gay
David (David Bower); brother of Charles, deaf, nice, friendly