Unrequited love - a tale (or heartache) as old as time. We’ve seen various incarnations of it through cinema and television. Whether it’s the pesky work creep who won't get the hint or the reserved wallflower who never thinks they could compare to the beautiful lead, seeing people get their heart broken before they ever get to fully give it to someone makes for some resonant, emotional and universal stories. Usually, the character who is not loved in return is seen as more vulnerable, or less desirable than the object of their affections. The nerd who fancies the jock, the quiet martyr who gives up on her dreams because she knows her crush would be happier with someone else. And usually, we accept that this one-way infatuation was just not meant to be. However, Richard Curtis’ timeless 1994 comedy, Four Weddings and a Funeral subverts everything we know about unrequited love through Kristen Scott Thomas’ character, Fiona.
A memory jog for people who haven't seen it in a while. Four Weddings follows Charles (Hugh Grant at his clumsiest and dreamiest) and his group of best friends who try to survive wedding season (all but one succeed). The object of Charles’ desires is the mysterious, American glamazon, Carrie (Andie McDowell). They sleep together the first night they meet, leaving Charles googly-eyed for her. But at the next wedding, he finds that she is engaged to a much older and wealthier nobleman (Corin Redgrave). This sets Charles on a downward spiral of heartbreak, leading him to make terrible decisions.
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Yes, agreeing to marry someone who you’re not in love with and then leaving them at the altar doesn't exactly rank high on your list of aspirations. But there is one unforgivable choice that Charles makes that tops it: His ignorance and rejection of Fiona’s love. Fiona is every bit as glamorous and beautiful as Carrie and then some. But it’s not her chic blunt bob haircut or demure, stylish outfits that make her deserving of love. It's her selflessness to stand by the wall, coolly smoking a cigarette, and hide her feelings because it might disrupt her friendships that makes her not only a good person but a relatable character. We only know she’s in love with Charles because she admits it to a total stranger.
At the second wedding of the film, Fiona, only because she’s being pressed about her love life by a nosy older woman at the table, reveals her innermost torment about loving Charles. It's a defeatist attitude that reaches out and crushes the audience's hearts. There is no glimmer in Fiona’s eye, no hope that the love of her life might someday realize what he's missing and sweep her off her feet. Because of some stellar acting from Thomas, we know that she has acquiesced to a lonely life because no one will ever come close to Charles and since he doesn't love her, she’s alone until she can manage to pull herself out of this one-way heartbreak. I always loved how the audience is told about her feelings before any of her friends, including Charles. Letting us in on this secret only draws us closer to Fiona as we understand and empathize with her character more as the film goes on. Not only do we have to watch her suppress her feelings for Charles, but we have to see her do this while watching Charles fall madly in love with someone else.
It all comes to the surface at Carrie’s wedding. The single friends are ordered to go out and find husbands and wives by Gareth (Simon Callow) and this seems to only be going well for Scarlett (Charlotte Coleman). Charles and Fiona (sporting one of the most minimally chic outfits of 1990s cinema, a black high-neck gown accented by gold jewelry) find themselves away from the disastrous flirting. Charles asks Fiona if she has found anyone and with the same candor and calmness, as if she were telling him what she ordered for the meal, she tells him she’s in love with him. Again, no hope in her eyes that he will return it, no questioning whether he is hiding his feelings too. Just a revelation that she has long come to terms with. The admission is quite abrupt, not out of pent-up emotion but more because this truth has become so normal and banal to her, she doesn't see why she has to hide it anymore.
She only sheds a few tears as Charles, who is evidently affected and surprised by this confession, comforts her. Instead of any anger or resentment between them, they bond over their respective heartbreaks, with an unspoken agreement that they'll still always be friends. But then as Matthew (John Hanna) enters, she wipes away her tears, takes a drag of her cigarette, and keeps going. It's a subtle form of strength that we’ve all experienced or witnessed. Biting your tongue, and bearing a smile, even though you feel the world around you is over; it’s the type of emotional resilience that every person has felt, and Scott Thomas personifies it with just enough empathy and stoicism. It's such a powerful scene because Fiona retains all the sophistication and composure we usually don't see in these types of moments. It reminds us that heartbreak doesn't have to be all tears and torment. It can just be a quiet reckoning, painful of course, but ultimately manageable. Again, Scott Thomas' acting really shines here as she remains true to Fiona's character of coolness and class whilst still being incredibly vulnerable.
Fiona’s selflessness is displayed even more in the film's final act. She seems to have dismissed her unrequited affection for Charles because she needs to be there for her friends after Gareth’s death. She looks after Scarlett at the funeral, and she knows that there are more important things to focus on. And months later at Charles’ (almost) wedding to Duckface, she is able to laugh about her former heartbreak. She seems genuinely happy for Charles, no matter who he marries. Fiona’s main priority is to be there for her friends, even if it means putting her feelings aside to make room for others.
This film is a staple in my house at Christmas, and each year, I become more enamored with Fiona as a character, which only fuels my anger towards Charles. When I talk to people about this movie, the topic of who Charles should have ended up with always comes up. It usually comes down to the opinion I’ve found more than a few have that McDowell and Grant just don't share the same chemistry as he and Scott Thomas do. I always argued this point and officially felt justified when Mark Kermode of the BBC brought it up in an episode of his Secrets of Cinema series where he admitted that he felt more interested in the fate of Fiona than the relationship between Carrie and Charles. While Scott Thomas and Grant undoubtedly have deeper on-screen chemistry, the more I think about it, I wonder, do I actually want Fiona to be with Charles?
Now, I know we get a glimpse into Fiona's life years later in the short sequel for Red Nose Day, but this writer is only taking the original film into consideration - what can I say? I'm a Four Weddings purist! So, for the purposes of this discussion, let's just ignore that. Fiona deserves a man who knows what he wants. She needs someone who appreciates her and can see how lucky they are to be with her. It actually would have felt like an unworthy cop-out for Charles to suddenly see sense in the last act. I know Fiona does end up with someone at the end of the film and I don’t want to get political, but having her end up with Prince Charles felt like a punch in the face. Yes, it was 1996, but even still, she can do way better than Charles, prince or not! (I would have preferred to see her having a girls' night out with Scarlett and Princess Diana, but we can't have everything, can we?) Perhaps it would have been better to see her off as she happily supports her friends on their quests of love, trusting the audience to know that she will at some point find a person who deserves to love her and doesn't need to be told outright.
Overall, Fiona’s arc is one that can be empathized with and understood by all. Whether it's being in love with someone you know will never reciprocate those feelings, hiding your emotions from those you love the most, or putting your friends before yourself, there's a universality to Fiona that makes her such a beloved character. This combined with her timeless style, cool demeanor, and the ease with which she brings up the topic of condoms to a priest - and you have yourself an icon. And it’s all tied together by the sophistication and humor of Kristen Scott Thomas, who makes Fiona equal parts glamorous, funny, and reticent as she is compassionate, loyal, and caring. But beyond that, it’s always refreshing to see a sufferer of unreciprocated love move on and see that there's more to life than that one person and realize they actually might deserve something better. Justice for Fiona, the Queen of Cool and champion for all the broken hearts who have walked a similar path!
