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The Dictator

A disappointing, often repulsive and mean-spirited mess of a film with seemingly only one real criterion on its agenda: to shock and offend.

The Woman In Black

Packed with atmosphere, this old-fashioned but deftly told ghost story delivers ample chills and thrills.

Careless Love

Sidestepping a more extreme take on prostitution, this is a quietly impressive portrait of a young woman caught in a tragic situation.

Empire Of Silver

Its backdrop is a rich and fascinating one, but the film is let down by a screenplay and direction that fails to register on a personal level.

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Another Year (Film)

by Julian Wood | January 24, 2011 13:25 | Edited January 24, 2011 14:34

Driven by natural performances, this perfectly reflects the ups and downs of everyday life with laughs and warmth.

British director Mike Leigh (Secrets & Lies, Vera Drake) has once again gathered his favourite actors and given us another carefully observed slice of suburban British life. Leigh looks and speaks like the sort of man who might be a bit hangdog or even morose but, as he has said many times, this is only half true. In Another Year, there are moments where the foibles of the characters are both endearing and very funny.

 

As the film opens, we see Gerri (the delightfully warm Ruth Sheen) counselling a patient as part of her job as a hospital-based therapist. Immediately, the main thesis of the film is economically laid out. Isn't it better to realise that life, though often hard and lonely, still offers us moments of happiness? This is not trite, but emotionally practical. It is better not to force it; too often worrying about life is allowed to get in the way of living it.

 

Gerri's husband, Tom (the always good Jim Broadbent), is a geologist. We see them over the course of a year as they get on with their balanced and mutually supportive relationship. Tom is jovial and accommodating, but not weak or colourless. Gerri does her best to support her close friend, Mary. But Mary (a fine performance from another Leigh regular, Lesley Manville) is not like Tom at all. She is bitter and single and has become an uncommented-upon alcoholic. Slowly, the story pans from Tom and Gerri to their more lost friend.

 

If all this sounds inconsequential well, then, so is life for most of us. Leigh is famous for his long-rehearsed naturalistic performances. Even more important, however, is the fact that he treats his characters with unadorned human empathy. Somehow, he casually captures a kind of unpretentious dignity which uplifts us even as it occasionally saddens.