REVIEW: Another Year

A THICK SLICE OF LIFE

Not many filmmakers can transform the drama of everyday life into great cinema. Hence the importance of Mike Leigh, a director who has made a career out of reflecting the small joys and sorrows of human existence and given us an excellent window to British society. All his characters are quirky, somewhat dysfunctional, struggling through the grind of survival, trying to negotiate relationships; yet capable of compassion, love and forgiveness.

His latest, Another Year, is no different. Leigh uses conversations between characters to construct his narrative, like he often does. They're commonplace exchanges between people who've known one another for considerably long -- the topics as banal as everyday life can get. Yet, they reveal so much, not just about the participants, but about life itself, and the anxieties that plague us all. And then he gets an ensemble cast to act out his vision -- not one of them misses a step!

Another Year is about four seasons in the life of a contented elderly couple, Gerri (Ruth Sheen) and Tom (Jim Broadbent, is this man gifted or what!) and the various people who flit in and out of their comfortable, warm and welcoming London home. The duo seems rock steady in their relationship and indeed their professional lives -- he's a geologist, she a psychologist, and together they tend their farm in their spare time, cook for each other, read in bed and sleep in each other's arms -- almost like an unattainable ideal for human contentment. They are at the centre of the film, yet, it isn't as much about them, as those they interact with in various capacities -- the real people, who can only marvel at their perfect world but hardly come anywhere close.

The set-up is Gerri's meeting with a depressive patient (Imelda Stauton, carrying the same ravaged, wrecked expression on her face from Vera Drake). When Gerri asks her where she'd place herself on the happiness scale between one and 10, she answers "One", before clamming up again. Next comes Gerri's office colleague and long-time friend, Mary (Lesley Manville, brilliant), a divorced loner who keeps reiterating she's feeling positive and the 'glass is half full', but is so nervous throughout, you worry she's going to have a breakdown any minute now. Mary needs Gerri and Tom, and Gerri knows it. But what Mary also needs is to feel wanted. And despite their apparent empathy, the couple can't give her that reassurance.

Tom's childhood friend Ken (Peter Wright) who comes visiting, is an obese, depressed, self-loathing alcoholic ripe for a mega heart attack. Again, we can see Tom and Gerri look at him from a distance, secretly despising his wasted life.

Finally, in the last segment, Tom's bereaved brother Ronnie (David Bradley), thoroughly discontented with life and unable to express himself, is invited to stay over with them. On the periphery is Tom and Gerri's son Joe (Oliver Maltman), a community lawyer, who, like his parents, seems happy to observe these characters with semi-detachment and not risk getting singed by their desperation. Like his parents, he finds a suitably cheerful girl, Katie (Karina Fernandez) and decides to settle down. 

There are just four major scenes in the film. And each is a masterpiece. The pacing, camera movements and actors' pitches are all tuned perfectly and just as a suspenseful thriller has you on the edge of your seat in anticipation, these innocuous kitchen-table or drawing room conversations evoke a sense of nervous expectation. You don't know what each scene is going to reveal and what dark corner of life it's going to take you to. 

By the end, you've experienced that ordinary year in Gerri and Tom's life yourself. You've met all these crazy people and after laughing at their idiosyncrasies and failings, you've seen a little bit of yourself in them.