Summary:
A year in the life of a happy couple and their surrounding family and friends.
My Thoughts:
As with the past few Mike Leigh films I’ve watched, I went into this one blind. I feel like, with his films in particular, it doesn’t really matter what the subject will be; Leigh shows incredible poignancy and thought when he approaches any subject at all. This film, like many of his films, deals with themes of past and future, happy and sad times, and the compassion and hatred that human beings are capable of showing one another. While this movie wasn’t as charming as “Topsy-Turvy”, nor as controversial or profound as “Naked”, nor emotionally draining as “Secrets & Lies”, this was a film that really touched me emotionally, as all of Leigh’s films have (it’s the main reason I keep coming back). Leigh’s cinema verite style of approaching relationships and real life struggles always seems to cut deep to the heart of issues that are often left unaddressed; this film deals with learning to cope with the hand that life has dealt you.
“Life’s not always kind, is it?”
Another Year is a familial drama revolving around a year in the life of the happily married couple, Tom (Jim Broadbent, “Brazil”) and Gerri (Ruth Sheen, “Vera Drake”) and their son Joe (Oliver Maltman, Happy-Go-Lucky). The happy couple’s home seems to be the safe haven for some of their friends, particularly Gerri’s work friend Mary (Lesley Manville, Phantom Thread), who is desperately single and a bit of an alcoholic. Among some of the other characters that visit Tom and Gerri throughout the year are Tom’s friend Ken (Peter Wight, Atonement), Tom’s brother Ronnie (David Bradley, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone), Joe’s girlfriend Katie (Karina Fernandez, Nico, 1988), and Janet (Imelda Staunton, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix), a patient of Gerri’s. As the year goes on, Tom and Gerri help their friends and family through various difficulties, while trying to maintain a positive outlook about life in general.
The writing here is what most impressed me, as it does with the majority of Leigh’s film. The main reason for me being impressed is the characters, which, in every one of Leigh’s films, seem flushed out and real. The actions that the characters take, while they might not change the characters in drastic ways, are often very realistic. Perhaps the best-written character is Mary, excellently portrayed by Lesley Manville. Mary’s character is effervescent and outwardly positive, but it’s easy to see how she’s truly hurting inside even from the first few moments we glimpse of her and Gerri at a bar. Mary seems content to chat away with Gerri while getting progressively drunker, but all the while she keeps looking over at a man about her age, who occasionally glances back at her. As the scene progresses, we learn that Gerri has had a few troubled relationships, and the last one ended because the man she was with left her for a younger woman. Before the scene ends, Mary looks over at the man by the bar one more time to see him joined by a younger woman. The idea of Mary constantly getting replaced by younger women comes up a few times throughout the film, and it’s obvious that Mary’s age is something she is very sensitive about. Mary wants to find some connection, she’s so desperately lonely that she comes off as overbearing and emotionally unstable, but honestly that’s what makes her such a great character. There’s a scene later on in the film when Mary once again get’s rather drunk at Tom and Gerri’s and says some things that are rather inappropriate. After she leaves, Tom comments that Mary was in fine form, but he wasn’t surprised by the way she acted; Gerri agrees with him. It’s that sort of smart writing that makes her character compelling; she’s not an ill-intentioned character; she’s just lonely and doesn’t know what to do with herself. Tom and Gerri themselves are great characters; they’re wonderful in that they seem to have really known each other for a long time, and their relationship seems genuine. Leigh is fantastic when it comes to writing scenes that are full of underlying subtext, and this is very prevalent in a lot of Tom and Gerri’s scenes. Many times, they communicate with only a look or a funny turn of phrase, and Leigh makes it so that we, the viewers, are in on the joke between Tom and Gerri, while the other characters in the room are left unaware of the communication between them. It makes us feel closer to the two of them, and it helps that they are both good-natured, well-intentioned people that only want the best for their friends and family (even if they do sometimes get on their nerves).
When watching this movie I noticed that the film shares something in common with both “Naked” and “Secrets & Lies”, and that is there is a moment when two characters have a scene of reconciliation and then hug for a long while (actually in all three times, the words “Give us a cuddle” or some iteration of that was said). The hugging scene in this film happens between Tom and his brother Ronnie, and the scene is one of the most compassionate moments I’ve seen in recent memory. In the other films by Mike Leigh, I’ve noticed that those scenes seem to pop up to always remind us to show compassion to our fellow humans. I love the themes that Leigh tries to convey with his work- that empathy for our fellow man can truly help make life more enjoyable.
Verdict:
While this wasn’t my favorite of Leigh’s films, it’s certainly a good movie. The more of Leigh I watched, the more impressed I am with his huge heart for the people of the world. He sees the hurt that people feel and wants to help them by letting them know they aren’t alone in their suffering. Leigh is a fantastic director, and I absolutely recommend checking out his work. If you see and like this movie, I cannot recommend “Secrets and Lies” enough.
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