Another Year (A- or 3.5/4 stars)
In 'Another Year' (written & directed by 6-time Oscar nominee Mike Leigh, Secrets & Lies, Topsy Turvy) a married couple who've managed to stay happy in their mature union are surrounded over the course of the 4 seasons by family, friends, & colleagues; all of whom suffer from interminable sadness. The film begins in "Spring". Tom & Gerri (Jim Broadbent, Ruth Sheen) are said married couple. They live a placid life; tending to their garden, seasonally. He is a geologist; she, a therapist. He is (generally) jovial, & she provides a soothing/calming effect to all around her. They are swell people; and kinder to their flibbertigibbet friend Mary (Lesley Manville) than anyone else would be. We all have a Mary in our lives. She's "that" friend.
Mary comes over for meals, often rushing in late like a whirling dervish, over-running conversations, smoking too much, flipping her hair, & drinking wayyyy too many glasses of wine. Ever-patient & open-minded, Tom & Gerri accept Mary's patches of melancholy & exasperating eccentricities; much the same they do of Ken (Peter Wight), Tom's schlumpy childhood pal, and also of Tom's catatonic-like, & newly-widowed brother, Ronnie (David Bradley). Tom & Gerri aren't the finest examples of humanity, but they are better-natured than most people. Aware that their marriage is special (simply because they actually enjoy each other's company), and grateful for their modest riches, they appear to have a high tolerance for all those around them.
Their 30 yr. old son, Joe (Oliver Maltman) is unmarried, & while Gerri would love to be a grandma, she (& Tom) never put pressure on him, either. If anyone does exert pressure, it's the flirty (and 50 yr. old) Mary. Lonely, & desperate for male company, she angles to have drinks with him. So when Joe shows up with new girlfriend Katie (Katina Fernandez) in the "Summer" segment of the film, Mary is visibly bereft. Everyone has always known that Mary has inappropriate designs on her friend's son, so the awkwardness of the situation is evident to all. Serious events cloud "Autumn" & "Winter". And as Mary's life (like a mouse running on its wheel) sourly continues, Gerri comes to realize that Mary's unhealthy dependence on her family could splinter their friendship indefinitely.
Tragedy, wit, & humor permeates nearly every scene we see. Mike Leigh, as always, does an incredible job creating extraordinary life situations & circumstances out of very ordinary everyday-ness. Visitors enter & leave Tom & Gerri's abode. A sister-in-law dies. Conversations are had. Daily sagas unfold. People reminisce about their younger, carefree days. Inside jokes & long-standing resentments pop up in flourishes. Many occurrences 'seem' uneventful. But we are riveted to the screen - simply because what the characters are saying or doing & how the others react gives an air of suspense to the proceedings; believe it or not. Every look & gesture registers. Any tiny incident can be magnified. That's the power of Mike Leigh.
The film's emotional roller coaster crashes during the gloomy "Winter" segment when a debilitated Mary shows up on T & G's doorstep hoping to mend fences (from earlier friendship strains) and finds Tom's just-widowed brother Ronnie at their home. Tom & Gerri are out. And the restless Mary tries pressingly to make conversation with the remote Ronnie. The house is cold & quiet. Her desperation to connect with Tom is embarrassing; not only to her, but for us as we watch. And the final moment of the film (with the camera resting on a face) is as sobering an ending of any film I've seen this year.
The film's narrative is schematic; rather than exhibiting a beginning/middle/end. And because Mike Leigh's scripts call for lots of improvisational dialogue, his actors grab us - and we know what's bubbling beneath each facade. I particularly appreciated Imelda Staunton in a cameo role as a disconsolate housewife who rejects Gerri's professional counseling; even though she obviously needs it. This character mirror images another one by the film's end. But it's Lesley Manville who knocks it out of the park; giving one of, if not the female performance of 2010. Though Mary can be grating, we feel empathy for her & her grieving heart. I don't know what will come of Mary, but the possibility of her continual sorrows makes my own heart heavy; and that's because of Manville's beautiful portrayal.
'Another Year' is one hell of a bittersweet movie. It gets richer as it goes; culminating in the gut-wrenching final shot. And though it's a leisurely paced film, it's never less than watchable, & even gripping in its themes of loneliness, happiness, & regret. You know the expression "it's never too late"? Well, it just may be (too late) for several of the characters in this film. For as humorous, observant, & great as this film is, you'll feel like a cement block is on your chest by the end.
Mary comes over for meals, often rushing in late like a whirling dervish, over-running conversations, smoking too much, flipping her hair, & drinking wayyyy too many glasses of wine. Ever-patient & open-minded, Tom & Gerri accept Mary's patches of melancholy & exasperating eccentricities; much the same they do of Ken (Peter Wight), Tom's schlumpy childhood pal, and also of Tom's catatonic-like, & newly-widowed brother, Ronnie (David Bradley). Tom & Gerri aren't the finest examples of humanity, but they are better-natured than most people. Aware that their marriage is special (simply because they actually enjoy each other's company), and grateful for their modest riches, they appear to have a high tolerance for all those around them.
Their 30 yr. old son, Joe (Oliver Maltman) is unmarried, & while Gerri would love to be a grandma, she (& Tom) never put pressure on him, either. If anyone does exert pressure, it's the flirty (and 50 yr. old) Mary. Lonely, & desperate for male company, she angles to have drinks with him. So when Joe shows up with new girlfriend Katie (Katina Fernandez) in the "Summer" segment of the film, Mary is visibly bereft. Everyone has always known that Mary has inappropriate designs on her friend's son, so the awkwardness of the situation is evident to all. Serious events cloud "Autumn" & "Winter". And as Mary's life (like a mouse running on its wheel) sourly continues, Gerri comes to realize that Mary's unhealthy dependence on her family could splinter their friendship indefinitely.
Tragedy, wit, & humor permeates nearly every scene we see. Mike Leigh, as always, does an incredible job creating extraordinary life situations & circumstances out of very ordinary everyday-ness. Visitors enter & leave Tom & Gerri's abode. A sister-in-law dies. Conversations are had. Daily sagas unfold. People reminisce about their younger, carefree days. Inside jokes & long-standing resentments pop up in flourishes. Many occurrences 'seem' uneventful. But we are riveted to the screen - simply because what the characters are saying or doing & how the others react gives an air of suspense to the proceedings; believe it or not. Every look & gesture registers. Any tiny incident can be magnified. That's the power of Mike Leigh.
The film's emotional roller coaster crashes during the gloomy "Winter" segment when a debilitated Mary shows up on T & G's doorstep hoping to mend fences (from earlier friendship strains) and finds Tom's just-widowed brother Ronnie at their home. Tom & Gerri are out. And the restless Mary tries pressingly to make conversation with the remote Ronnie. The house is cold & quiet. Her desperation to connect with Tom is embarrassing; not only to her, but for us as we watch. And the final moment of the film (with the camera resting on a face) is as sobering an ending of any film I've seen this year.
The film's narrative is schematic; rather than exhibiting a beginning/middle/end. And because Mike Leigh's scripts call for lots of improvisational dialogue, his actors grab us - and we know what's bubbling beneath each facade. I particularly appreciated Imelda Staunton in a cameo role as a disconsolate housewife who rejects Gerri's professional counseling; even though she obviously needs it. This character mirror images another one by the film's end. But it's Lesley Manville who knocks it out of the park; giving one of, if not the female performance of 2010. Though Mary can be grating, we feel empathy for her & her grieving heart. I don't know what will come of Mary, but the possibility of her continual sorrows makes my own heart heavy; and that's because of Manville's beautiful portrayal.
'Another Year' is one hell of a bittersweet movie. It gets richer as it goes; culminating in the gut-wrenching final shot. And though it's a leisurely paced film, it's never less than watchable, & even gripping in its themes of loneliness, happiness, & regret. You know the expression "it's never too late"? Well, it just may be (too late) for several of the characters in this film. For as humorous, observant, & great as this film is, you'll feel like a cement block is on your chest by the end.