Madonna's 'W.E.' About 'Agony And Ecstasy Of Love'

'There's no such thing as perfect love,' Queen of Pop tells MTV News.
By Jocelyn Vena, with reporting by Josh Horowitz

Madonna
Photo: MTV News

Madonna has lived the majority of her adult life in the public eye, which means the world has watched her fall in and out of love.

The focus of her film "W.E.," which she wrote and directed, is all about love — specifically, the love between American divorcée Wallis Simpson and King Edward VIII during the '30s. In the film, the couple's affair seeps into the modern world when a contemporary woman becomes interested in it. When Madonna focused her energy on the story for the big screen, she felt she had sufficient personal experience to bring.

"I think that there's duality to my point of view in the film 'cause on the one hand you can say I take a slightly cynical point of view about romance," she told MTV News while promoting the flick, which opens this week. "And there's no such thing as perfect love. The idea that we are raised — certainly women, young girls — that the knight in shining armor is going to come and sweep you off your feet and take you on his stallion and you're going to ride off in the sunset, well that's really rubbish, isn't it?

"But an intelligent woman gets sidetracked by that notion, and ultimately I have come to the conclusion that we have to save ourselves," she continued. "That said, I still believe in love, and I am a romantic. I hope you get both of those feelings from the film."

In fact, the Queen of Pop points out that she gets what Wallis and Edward probably felt like when they met and fell head over heels for each other and landed right in an affair that became an international scandal.

"I certainly know what it feels like to be swept off your feet and to feel a deep love and connection to somebody and also be willing to give up things and make sacrifices," she said. "I also know what it feels like to be scrutinized and be under the constant microscope.

"I certainly can relate to all that. I know the agony and ecstasy of love," she continued. "I feel like I'm in a very-qualified position to speak of it and make a film about it. Absolutely, for anyone and anything we love [we make sacrifices]. Love equals sacrifice."

Check out everything we've got on "W.E."

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