DO WE REALLY KNOW OUR LOVED ONES?
My parents have been married for 44 years. I’m fascinated by couples who have stayed together that many decades. I find it almost mysterious, this bond that evolves between two people. Some depend on each other for the wrong reasons, resulting in a bitter relationship where both are unable to move on. Some stay together for all the right reasons; after decades of marriage they die within days of each other. That’s love so strong I couldn’t possibly understand it, but it is deeply moving. My parents’ marriage is not some fairy-tale romance; it’s hard work. The same is true for Kate and Geoff Mercer.
Celebrating the anniversary with a big party
When we meet them, this Norfolk couple are about to celebrate their 45th anniversary with a big party. Kate and Geoff (Charlotte Rampling, Tom Courtenay) are both retired. They never had children, but this middle-class couple are still well off. In the middle of discussions regarding what kind of music should be played at the party, Geoff receives a letter from Switzerland informing him that Katya has been found. She was his girlfriend in the 1960s who disappeared in the Alps while hiking with him. It was determined that she likely fell somewhere and now her body has become visible in a glacier.
Kate knows who Katya was, but this is nevertheless disturbing news to both of them. Kate listens to her husband telling her his memories of Katya. Even though she understands how upsetting this is to him, she is worried. Geoff begins to show signs of not quite being himself. Is he not telling her everything?
The mechanics of relationships
The director had his breakthrough with Weekend (2011), an intimate drama about a young, gay couple. You might say that 45 Years looks like quite the opposite, as it portrays a middle-aged, straight couple who’ve been together since the moon landing. But it’s obvious that Haigh is above all interested in how relationships work, the mechanics that either make them successful or threaten to pull two people apart. In the case of the Mercers, we are initially infatuated by them because they are genuine and loving.
Still, slowly Haigh lets us understand how fragile a relationship can be even after 45 years. Kate is given a reason to question everything they have together and it is done credibly, leading us in the audience to consider how we would react to something similar. Haigh directs his movie in a careful and meticulous way, letting the story and this marriage take shape without rushing it.
It couldn’t have been done as well without Tom Courtenay and Charlotte Rampling who are absolutely brilliant.
It couldn’t have been done as well without Courtenay and Rampling who are absolutely brilliant as the Mercers. The latter gets a lot to work with, a character who feels the foundation of her life moving underneath her.
Solid and fragile at the same time. I guess that’s how we should regard a 45-year long marriage. I’m sure I’ll never have that, but we are not all built to see a project like that through. I do believe though that this is a movie with insights for those who have what it takes and those who don’t.
45 Years 2015-U.K. 91 min. Color. Written and directed by Andrew Haigh. Short Story: David Constantine (”In Another Country”). Cast: Charlotte Rampling (Kate Mercer), Tom Courtenay (Geoff Mercer), Geraldine James (Lena), Dolly Wells, David Sibley.
Berlin: Best Actor (Courtenay), Actress (Rampling). European Film Awards: Best Actress (Rampling).
Last word: “I don’t do any rehearsals. I always meet the actors before the shoot and talk together about the film and the characters. I had three days with Charlotte and a couple days with Tom. We discussed our own interpretations, and about how we feel about the characters and our own lives. This helps everyone get to a very secure point, where we’re all in agreement about what we’re doing. After that, we start shooting. I don’t storyboard, but I’m very clear about what I want the blocking to be. I might take some lines out, add some new ones, or change the blocking. So, I like to work through it when the camera is on because I don’t want to miss something special.” (Haigh, Film Comment)
