45 Years

source: 45 Years

Greetings again from the darkness. Relationships are messy and complicated. Even the best ones. Even those that last 45 years. Writer/director Andrew Haigh (Weekend, 2011) understands this and delivers a film not about older people, but instead about the secrets, the doubts and the regrets experienced by anyone and everyone who is part of a committed relationship. His message is delivered through the extraordinary performances of Tom Courteney and especially Charlotte Rampling. Just four days prior to a planned party to celebrate their 45th wedding anniversary, the stillness and quiet of Geoff's and Kate's long-established familiarity is disrupted by the startling news that his girlfriend of 50 years ago has been discovered preserved in a Swiss glacier. What could have been a simple blip on the radar turns out to be a slow revelation of true emotions that have clouded this marriage. Kate's realization that her seemingly fine life is now undeniably tainted is gut-wrenching to behold. Ms. Rampling's performance is subtle and brilliant. The camera captures the whirlwind of emotions through her facial expressions and telling body language. She carries herself with grace and dignity, even as she emotes devastation. A scruffy Mr. Courteney seems oblivious to how deeply his reaction has wounded his wife, even as he dives more and more into the past … a journal, a slideshow, smoking cigarettes, a trip to the travel agency. Haigh's script and direction are such that the intimacy and personal pain is evident even in scenes that feature only one of the two leads. The lack of raised voices or outbursts belies the pain felt by both Geoff and Kate, and the pain is never more evident than when we finally reach the anniversary party. As Geoff delivers a rambling speech about the ups and downs of marriage, the camera equally captures the face of Kate as she expertly dons the façade required in public for those who are lost emotionally. The couple then dances to The Platters' "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" and Kate's faces hides little of her internal turmoil. Haigh ends with one of the most soul-crushing final shots one could ever expect to see. It's the perfect ending to a dose of reality most of us hope to never experience.

This is the longest slowest movie based on a short story in the history of cinema. Too make matters worse there are clocks in many of the scenes. The one the night table on the left wasn't there until it was needed. Blame the writer director who wrote such cutting dialogue as "I'll make another pot of tea". More idle say nothing dialogue included, "Would you like some scrambled eggs?". The movie takes place during the week leading up to an anniversary party. After one boring scene after another, the day of the week appears on the screen, like it mattered if it was Wednesday or Thursday. Charlotte Rampling gives an expressive facial performance. Hard to believe some consider it award worthy. Lips are the only things that move in this, the characters are bored, so we'll make the audience bored little movie. The exterior walks through town go nowhere and take too long. The most interesting thing if you happen to notice it is an Italian Greyhound with protective pants. Speaking of dogs, the lead dog seemed miscast as it seemed too big for the lead characters. While the movie drags on, about an hour plus into things, the Rampling character sits down at the piano and plays an entire piece. A highlight of the movie are the songs used in the soundtrack. Just in case you were hoping to hear something good on the radio, as the song comes on, the radio is turned off. Another song used in it's entirety is danced to at the end before an arm movement statement and a fade to black. Too much dialogue, scenes that go on too long, and scenes that aren't needed make for a truly awful movie experience. This is a small movie that doesn't need to be seen in a theater. If you watch it at home you'll walk out of the room and miss nothing.

The central performances by Tom Courtenay and, especially, Charlotte Rampling are the reasons to see this film. Charistmatic, complex, detailed. Lingering shots on their faces are seductive because so much is clearly going on behind them. There are many such shots. A lot of film time is spent watching Charlotte Rampling's face in particular, which is beautiful and expressive. Purely on the visual level there's nothing to complain about. Same with the many shots of the Norfolk countryside. It's lovely, even in the rain. The plot is simple, the story is small and concentrated, an episode in the life of a couple. So it's all about mood, depth of feeling. It's a lyrical film. There's a plot, there are revelations. The central one is handled by concentrating, yet again, on Charlotte Rampling's face. Another revelation, and we watch her for a very long time walking through the streets of a town as people pass her going about their business. We are invited for long stretches of this film to watch someone feel. I can't praise Charlotte Rampling enough, she's a wonderful actress, but even she couldn't up the stakes sufficiently to enable this film to realise its potential. I came away feeling that the director was using these terrific actors (the supporting cast is also very good) and the county of Norfolk to sustain the film by pointing the camera at them and letting the audience fill in the gaps. It's easy to think that's the approach of films by Ozu or Kaurismaki or Mike Leigh, but it's a mistake to think that. In the work of those masters there is so much more going on, so much texture, so much depth. It's texture and profundity that 45 YEARS unfortunately lacks. Somehow, the tone of it doesn't live up to what's going on behind those expressive faces. It ends up, in spite of the very best efforts of these superb performers, as a pretty average movie.

Based on the short story In Another Country by David Constantine, '45 Years' is a Powerful human-drama, that is emotionally violent as well devastating. Great Performances add to the impact. '45 Years' Synopsis: In the week leading up to their 45th wedding anniversary, a couple receive an unexpected letter which contains potentially life changing news. '45 Years' is an extraordinary film, because it knows what it is: That begin an ugly love-story about a couple under shock. I was engrossed by the narrative thoroughly. Andrew Haigh's Writing is superb. This is Writing of the highest order. Haigh's Direction, on the other-hand, is tight, focused. Performance-Wise: Charlotte Rampling & Tom Courtenay are at their finest. Rampling explodes in an emotionally devastating performance, that deserves serious awards consideration. Courtenay is first-rate, involving himself completely to the part. Its a delight to watch both of the veterans lighten up the screen. On the whole, '45 Years' cannot be missed. Strongly Recommended!

The movie flows very slowly, but the two actors playing the leads did not bore me. They were really good at expressing the situation. The film in general played out very mundane but give lots of drama without overdoing it. A few days before their 45th wedding anniversary Geoff and Kate are sitting in their house when Geoff receives a letter from Switzerland stating they found his first love. Basically the letter reminds him that, through no fault of his own Geoff lost his first love, and as he dwells on this fact Kate realizes this too. The whole situation was done well and interestingly, as the two actors inside a small cottage for most of the movie react to the letter. Kate has to watch Geoff get lost in, not really regret but something that would have never been and it makes her think about what she met to him for the past 45 years. It was a really good movie, very impress how they could keep the story so real and down to Earth and still hole the viewer.

Kate and Geoff are a mature couple enjoying a peaceful life, their 45 year wedding anniversary is soon approaching, but this sense of calm is broken when Geoff receives a letter, telling him that the body of his first wife Katya has been found in the Swiss mountains. We see the effects on Geoff an Kate during the lead up to their celebration. It is a wonderful character study, with two acting legends, Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay, both showcasing their vast talents, as a combination the pairing are formidable, too many high caliber scenes to pick out any real specifics, although the living room dancing is expertly done. A good supporting cast too, I'm biased towards Geraldine James, but as always she is fantastic. She doesn't try to overtake or overshadow, she's great. It's a film I very much enjoyed, it belongs to a certain genre of films that often gets overlooked, one that could easily be dismissed as boring, but it is expertly done. A true gem with an acting masterclass. 8/10

This had such an interesting story line that I rented it. But the story instead avoids all of the possibilities that could have made an interesting movie. They receive a letter regarding the death of his former lover 50 years earlier. Did he murder her? did he murder her and the guide? what else had he done? but............no No we don't 'go there' we instead avoid anything remotely dramatic. And watch boring events in real time. 1. Kate on piano 5 minutes 2. Kate walking in shopping arcade 5 minutes 3. Kate walking in a field 3 minutes 4.Incidental boring conversations 45 minutes 5. Kate washing face 4 minutes 6. Kate staring, just staring 3 minutes x 5 times The director must be the child of someone rich "Daddy daddy can I make a movie?" "Sure son" "Daddy daddy, make the cast of Mamma Mia sing happy birthday to me?" "Sure son" Then towards the end, I said to my wife 'they're going to bail' and they did, the movie just ended with no anything, the movie bailed on a plot and then because there was no plot there was no end, just a nothing movie. But as usual the insecure brigade are out voting it high, trying to appear intellectually superior because they 'get it' you see, they appreciate the subtlety. They don't need drama that's too obvious, a plot? no don't be silly plots, dialogue and drama and thrills are all too obvious.

Kate and Geoff live a quite and seemingly normal life in the country until Geoff receives a letter informing him that the body an old girlfriend, whom he travelled through Switzerland with, but was lost in climbing accident, has been found preserved in a glacier of ice. This happened before he met Charlotte Rampling's Kate, who immediately raises her eyebrows at the clarity in which Geoff, played by Tom Courtenay, recalls his time in the Swiss Alps. She's more concerned with arranging the party for her anniversary than digging up the past, but that's what spurs Geoff into life, as he picks up old habits and develops a fascination with his loft. In stark contrast, suspicion and jealously soon begins to grow in Kate, who feels pushed aside in favour of someone she didn't even know. In some ways, 45 Years is shot like a mystery or a crime film, with the days chartered appropriately in this regard, although there's an overwhelming feeling of Gothic horror abound, but without the Gothic overtones. It's set in the Norfolk Broads, after all, but Kate and Geoff's country cottage could be the house of Usher given the secrets that lie beneath. The performances are exemplary, of course, whilst the staging and framing is that of a director at the top of his game. Both visually and with regards to the diegetic soundtrack that tells the story of this couple's life. But how much of that was defined by Geoff's dead girlfriend? The film's parting shot is genuinely brilliant, with the camera focusing on Kate much in the same way it stayed on Bob Hoskins at the end of The Long Good Friday, or George Clooney in Michael Clayton, challenging audiences to stare into the mind of a character and draw our own conclusions.

Unless I missed something, and I do not believe I did, this is definitely 'the movie about nothing'. It dragged out one tiny little insignificant moment in time, one happening in a person's life, over a whole movie. If it was all consuming as it appears to be this marriage never would have lasted over the period of 45 years. If the point is how some hang on to a belief of something lost and what could have been....we get the point. But it certainly was bare bones for a movie, needed some meat and potatoes to go with it. A time waster.