Military Wives

Seen at the Everyman, Glasgow

Cecil says: We watched Military Wives on our wedding anniversary on a wet afternoon in Glasgow, when it was a relief just to get into the warm and out of the relentless rain outside. It was a good, light-hearted film for a matinee and actually felt very relevant to our own lives in so many ways.

We are both choral singers, rather than karaoke fans, but we have seen enough self-important, know-it-all choir people over the years to recognise the character played so well by Kristin Scott-Thomas.

We also lived a few miles from the UK’s largest garrison for some years in Yorkshire and we rather fancy they filmed part of Military Wives on that garrison that we knew so well (though I guess army housing looks pretty similar wherever you are in the country). And we often drove past the isolated farmhouse, which I’m pretty sure was mainly used for film sets and appeared in this film (though there were no details of where exactly the locations were in the credits at the end).

And we have both sung at the Albert Hall, my first time also being a very emotional occasion, singing a Requiem just days after a close friend had died, so there were lots of memory triggers throughout the film for me, and I’m sure for Bea as well.

The plot is kind of fun: organising morale-boosting activities for wives of servicemen and women left behind when the spouses go on 6-monthly tours of duty; and the very different approach from the senior officer’s (posh) wife to the sergeant-major’s (more working class) partner.

I could never have survived in the armed forces for lots of reasons, but one of the toughest things I think is the stark hierarchy and the tendency for class divides to be so heightened in the forces. I would never have fitted in with the ordinary soldiers, but nor would I have been at ease in the officer’s mess, with all that posh talk going on around me.

There are some comical adjustments to the dialogue and filming to make things easier (I guess) for American – and other overseas – audiences, like the reference to ‘York Cathedral’ instead of Minster; and the hilarious signpost in the middle of the Yorkshire Dales with “London, M1” to the left and the garrison to the right (It reminds me of a final scene in some movie we saw years ago when the main character goes to a ticket counter and asks for ‘two tickets to Africa, please’…).

And although I loved the final song supposedly created from letters the wives had written to their spouses (or vice versa), with beautiful music (I think composed by Scotsman Lorne Balfe), I do not believe they would have been learning their lines still on the coach down to London, or never have rehearsed the song until they got to the changing rooms at the Albert Hall. But, hey, this is fiction and there is dramatic licence, so it didn’t really matter…

Overall, it’s a nice film, with some moving scenes related to loss and grief, but a feel-good film on the whole, and certainly good for a wet afternoon in Glasgow.

***

Bea says:  Seen at my new fave cinema, and sort of my current local – the Everyman in Glasgow, and as Cecil says, this was a bit of welcome light relief, as well as a relief to be dry and warm and sheltered from the Glasgow rain for a few hours!

Cecil suggested this one for our anniversary afternoon (in between lunch at the Willow Tea Rooms and a fish and chip supper), and I was happy to agree as I assumed it would be about the formation of the military wives choir (which it was) – but I hadn’t quite realised how much it would resonate with our life, including the Garrison scenes and the concert at the Royal Albert Hall.

 I entered choral life later than Cecil, and have sung more than once at the RAH, but the first time (the Verdi Requiem for me) is unforgettable.  Cecil and I are spending quite a bit of time apart this year due to differing work commitments, so a film that brought together so many facets of our life, on our wedding anniversary was actually very special and poignant.

However, it could have just been some good writing, and perhaps everyone seeing this film feels connected in some way to its story of marriages, loss, grief, parenting and joy – universal emotions even if one hasn’t shared the exact experience of the women.

Other than these deeper emotions, the film is actually quite lightweight and fun in a “Full Monty” kind of way with lots of singalong tracks (I suspect a stage show is likely to follow) and wisecracking.  Kristin Scott Thomas acts everyone else off the screen, and the scene where she gets into the car and sobs is stellar – I did not share the experience her character had, but I think we can all connect with feeling that wretched, particularly when used to holding it all together.  Her grounding performance lifts the whole film above the forgettable, and I am so glad that she is in it.

Definitely worth seeing – despite the emotions, this will leave you feeling good.

***.5

Journey to a Mother's Room

Seen at the Forum Theatre, Melbourne, as part of MIFF 2019

Bea says: We saw this as part of the wonderful Melbourne International Film Festival, at the Forum Theatre.  

The film is the exploration of the relationship between a fairly recently bereaved woman and her young adult daughter.  We follow both their transformations out of this time of grief - the daughter's failed attempt to follow her mother's footsteps at the local textile factory before trying her luck as a nanny in London, and the mother's slow recovery of her skills, meaning and purpose as she is commissioned to sew the costumes for a dance troupe. 

 Their journeys are not equally paced which is what made this film interesting for me, and at times the daughter strides ahead, only to have a a disappointment and return home to find her mother has rebuilt a bit more of her life successfully.

Really quite a lovely story of mother-daughter relationships, leaving home and dealing with loss.

Recommended.

***.5

Cecil says: I was less drawn into this film than Bea, but I loved the venue and was transfixed by the decor of this extraordinary theatre even while the film's slow pace lost me at times.

Films about dealing with grief are never going to be lively, uplifting stories, and I think the scenes in the apartment reminded me too strongly of some of my depressed moments when I lived in a very similar flat in Pamplona in Spain when I got my first job after leaving Uni. There's something about Spanish furniture which weighs down on me for some reason.

***

Manchester by the Sea

Seen at the lovely old cinema in Cronulla in Sydney's south.

Cecil says: When I first heard people talk about Manchester by the Sea, I had thought for some reason that this would be a gritty northern England film, a kind of kitchen-sink drama, with maybe  some urban fantasies about creating sandy beaches in the middle of Salford or the Northern Quarter.

Well, gritty this film was, in a sense, though American gritty is always a bit different from UK grit. Sure, we have the average Joe the janitor, struggling to make ends meet and trying to keep his plumbing and electricity customers happy as he fixes things in a run-down Boston apartment block.

Casey Affleck is excellent as younger brother to Joe, who dies and leaves Casey in charge of his teenage son. It’s interesting to note that Casey is younger brother to Ben, so I guess he must know all too well how to play the younger brother role, not that we see much of Casey’s character Lee’s older brother, except through the many flashbacks that litter this film.

Lee has a tragedy of his own to deal with, and the nature of that tragedy slowly comes to light as the film develops. It all culminates in an extraordinarily sad scene towards the end where Lee bumps into his ex-partner in the street and they recognise what has happened between them.

I shan’t give any more away for fear of giving a spoiler to readers of this review.

But you will get the drift that this is not a bundle of laughs or a joyous experience. In fact, we both left the cinema on a beautiful sunny afternoon in the lovely beach suburb of Cronulla feeling totally drained and almost depressed. So if you need a pick-me-up, Manchester by the Sea is not for you.

Lucas Hedges plays the 15-16 year old Patrick very well; it’s tough to lose your father at that age, when you need everything to be all about you. And he suddenly has to get Lee involved in some of his scheming and story-telling as he tries to date several girls at once and get violent on the ice hockey pitch.

But again, this film is all about getting through the tough times and dealing with every day issues. It’s compelling, but really not easy viewing. Even the moment where Lee and Patrick seem to have finally agreed on a way forward for the boat Patrick inherited did not end up being a turning point. I mean, I don’t miss the rose-tinted glasses of 1950s Hollywood, but this story could have a tad more smiles than it did.

The main joy for both me and Bea was seeing a town we know and love on the eastern seaboard. Essex, Massachusetts was where much of Manchester was filmed and it brought back fond memories of a wonderful weekend – and many more fabulous road trips we had while we lived in the States.

I hear Manchester is up for a few Oscars this year. Hmmm, not sure about that, but then I rarely do like film that win Oscars, so no change there then.

***

Bea says: I was really looking forward to seeing Manchester by the Sea.  Unlike Cecil, I had read enough about it to know it was set on the north-eastern seaboard of the US; and that it was some kind of gritty family and relationships drama.  

Gritty it certainly was!  I am in a busy and often challenging phase of my life right now, and, well, I could have done with a bit more escapism and a bit less “real life” on a rare free Sunday afternoon.  

It’s not even a weepy, it’s so grim that it is beyond tears really.  However – it is very well written, very well acted and very well produced, and it’s not often you see that in a film these days.  The haunting story and the performances of both Affleck and Williams has stayed with me – a few weeks later I can still remember key scenes in clear detail, almost word for word.  It’s highly deserving of any awards.

I have liked Michelle Williams ever since her Dawson’s Creek days, and have watched her career develop with interest; and although she doesn’t have a lot of screen time in this film, what she does is riveting.  Affleck is similarly good; although since seeing it I have read a lot about his behaviour off screen, which is rather less palatable.  I loved seeing beautiful Essex as the location, and I really, really want Michelle Williams’ coat.

****

The Daughter

Seen at the lovely Roxy Cinema in Nowra, NSW

Bea says: It was a great pleasure to see a film out of NSW, featuring Sam Neill and Geoffrey Rush.  It took me back to a time when Australian cinema was doing very well in the 1970s, 1980s and into the early 1990s, and seeing local films was a regular occurence; it is more of rarity now, sadly.

The Daughter was a gripping film with a strong plotline and character development.  It is dark, in mood, story and cinematography and the ending is unresolved.  I didn't know, until the final credits rolled, that it is based on Henrik Ibsen's The Wild Duck (which I have not read, although I have read other Ibsen works).  It made sense - the dark, wintry settings, the family dramas and self-destructiveness.

The film is shot around the NSW Highlands, and unlike a lot of Australian film, features a cool climate and I enjoyed that aspect of its difference to the usual cultural fodder of Australian life in the media (beach or outback).  Performances were strong, but I particularly enjoyed Sam Neill's perfectly low key portrayal of the daughter's grandfather.

The film explores the impact of social issues and class, and the meaning of family deeply, with much to discuss and reflect upon afterwards - it owes the depth to Ibsen probably, but has been very well translated into contemporary Australian life, so that has been well done by the producing, writing, directing and acting team.  The director, or writer, I believe was also responsible for Lantana, which Cecil and I saw on one of our first ever dates - also a fairly dark film!

Highly recommended, as both an experience and to support our film industry.
****

Cecil says: It's not the kind of film I'd usually choose to see on a warm Sunday Monday. As Bea says, it's not the cheeriest film, but it is a really good production.

It says a lot that my favourite pieces of acting actually came from two very powerful portrayals of grief at different points in the film's story: one from Geoffrey Rush and the other from the rather good teenage actress Odessa Young, who plays Hedvig rather marvellously.

Christian (played by Paul Schneider) is the most destructive character in the film. Everything he does seems to cause more turmoil and upset, and you are left at the end with the feeling that although he is the instigator of so many battles and traumas between various members of the family, he is the one who comes out of it unhealed, still angry and traumatised by the death of his mother many years ago.

The friendly usher on the way out of the cinema asked if we'd enjoyed the film, 'Enjoy' isn't really what you do with a film like this, but it was certainly thought-provoking and gave us lots to talk about on our 45 minute drive home afterwards.

I'm certainly glad I saw The Daughter but somehow it's a film that lends itself to coming out in the dark. The bright midday sun of an Australian autumn day just didn't feel right.

***.5