Outstanding British cinema

What can be so interesting about an old but loving married couple who could not be happier with their lives? According to Mike Leigh, the director of one of this year’s best films, quite a lot. In a film that is separated over one year, it’s the people around them that present all the complex emotional problems with the four seasons bringing about four unique episodes of supporting characters with their own struggles. For Tom (Jim Broadbent) and Gerri (Ruth Sheen), the blissfully married couple, the coming year is just “Another Year,” but a year can bring out so much pain in others, pain that they have to acknowledge and deal with.

Fulfilling jobs, soothing hobbies, stable home, healthy conversations, great meals are what make up Tom and Gerri’s successful marriage. But just because they’re living the picture-perfect life, it doesn’t mean their friends are. Take Gerri’s colleague Mary (Lesley Manville) for example; after a string of unsuccessful relationships including failed marriages, she is lonely, and knocking back glasses of wine - a common occurrence for her sad existence. She has not given up hope, and is convinced that men are still interested in her. She eventually sets her eyes on Tom and Gerri’s only son Joe (Oliver Maltman), and is quite naturally bitter and devastated when he brings around a young, attractive, perky fiancée (Karina Fernandez) home one day.

Many of the events seen in Another Year seem uninteresting; a male/female friend visiting for dinner, a son visiting for a few days, a funeral etc… but Leigh makes sure that every single event means something significant and with the film’s central theme of company, loneliness, depression and happiness each seasonal episode is there to bring about new revelations and new characters that make a significant impact on the general flow of the film’s narrative.

No matter how annoying or inappropriate their friends may be, Tom and Gerri tolerate them with all their heart. Mary goes on and on (always with a large glass of wine in one of her hands, of course) about the most insignificant details of her life. She gets chattier and makes less sense when drunk, and it’s obvious she gets sloshed every night on wine. Her rambling is hysterical at first, but as she continues, the audience is given enough time and invasive close-up shots to realise just how hopeless she is. Manville gives the best performance in a film full of outstanding ones. She brings out enough humour from her character but every facial expression on her face reminds us of something more depressing and desperate. She may not be a likable character, but is someone you can feel sympathy for. Manville magically transforms this otherwise hateful spinster into a victim of chronic loneliness. The film’s final moment is focused solely on Manville and no one else. With no music or dialogue, Manville alone is perfectly able to portray the fear and worry for the tragedy that awaits her.

Rich with low-key, subtle, hugely effective comedy as well as some heart-wrenching drama, Another Year is one of Leigh’s finest works of his career. The title and general tone of the film may be off-putting for some for being “too British;” and yes, this is as British as they come, but it’s simply outstanding because of it.