Review #6 - “Another Year”

Director: Mike Leigh

Run Time: 129 minutes

Cast: could not get on internet

Language: English

Setting the tone is an integral part of directing a film. From the opening credits, Director Mike Leigh does a great job of utilizing the film’s structure, title, and music to convey a methodical, somber perception of our feeble human existence. “Another Year” uses a non-descript, middle class neighborhood in England as its setting. Symbolizing all that is mundane about life, this quiet neighborhood serves as the backdrop for an in depth analysis of the difficulties of aging.

The film works towards this goal by following an English couple, Tom and Gerri, as they move about their daily lives. Gerri is an occupational therapist who deals mostly with people suffering from depression, and Tom is a geological engineer who drills holes in the ground to test the feasibility of various construction projects. Far from being either passionate lovers or disillusioned partners, Tom and Gerri are a sixties-something couple whose lukewarm yet comfortable relationship emanates banality and complacency. Never exuding too much of any emotion, Tom and Gerri’s relationship makes me feel numb and zombie like. In this way their existence comes off as morose and depressing. In and of itself the couple’s sweet relationship actually gives me hope for their happiness, but the utter lack of anything exciting and the monotonous routine of work and neurotic friendships created a somber mood among the couple, their family, and their viewers.

The concept of aging in “Another Year” is depicted as a constant struggle against the menace of time. A struggle in which time gradually robs us of our passion and identity much like a river gradually wears down the rough texture of the rocks lying on its riverbed.

One of the ways in which Director Leigh illustrates this mood is through music and the presentation of the opening credits. As the curtain opened, the subdued and meandering tune ushered forth from the screen produced in me a melancholy mood with a hint of optimism. The sound of the tune’s stringed notes amidst the emptiness of a screen devoid of any content amplified this feeling of weariness mixed with the slightest bit of hope. Then, just as the music seems to be coming to a more cheerful climax, the notes drop sharply into a much more solemn, resigned tone. This sudden change in the emotion of the music worked in perfect synchronization with the appearance of the film’s title, “Another Year.” The result was a feeling of hope being crushed. In this way, Director Leigh used the music and the title of the film to evoke in my mind images of feeble men endlessly trudging through the daily grind of life while trying to find happiness in a vain search for identity and purpose.

The methodical, droning rhythm of “Another Year” was enhanced by the structure of the film as well. The first and most obvious aspect supporting the rigid, mechanical structure of the film was the division of the picture into the four seasons of the year. As we all know, the seasons come and go with relentless regularity each year. By viewing this story through the lens of seasonal changes, we in the audience quickly realize that this is a metaphor for our lives. Though the seasons change and we all age, our life consists of mostly the same monotonous routines until we die. Then, after death, life goes on with out us.

In the movie these truths are supported by the fact that no matter the season, Tom and Gerri are always seen entertaining the same people, like Gerri’s neurotic co-worker and Mary and Tom’s washed up friend, Ken. It is implied through conversations with these friends that their presence is a regular occurrence. For instance, when explaining to Katie (Tom and Gerri’s son Joe’s girlfriend) who Mary is, Tom calls Gerri’s friend of 20 years her “special patient.”

In fact, when Ronnie’s wife (Ronnie is Tom’s brother) dies during the film, the event is really more of a formality than anything else. Ronnie’s wife is never introduced to us during the movie, and Ronnie himself is only onscreen for the scenes regarding the funeral. We never have time to love her in life nor grieve for her in death. But this is undoubtedly an intentional move by Director Mike Leigh. By not allowing us to care for her in any way, Leigh is making the point that no matter what happens to us, life goes on and we as a human race will not miss those who die. So what is the purpose or meaning of life when what we do here on Earth will never save us from death? Though some things may change, the cycle of life and death remains omnipotent. Such are the burdensome thoughts and experiences of aging.

Another way in which Leigh reinforces the feeling of time’s inexorable march, which inevitably results in death, is the constant use of agricultural imagery. Throughout the film, Tom, Gerri, and their son, Joe, are seen tending to the garden they own out in the country in every season of the year. Thus, like the seasons imagery, the agricultural cycle of tilling, planting, sowing, and harvesting in the family garden serves to regulate our sense of time.

However, though I think Director Leigh succeeded in accomplishing his goals, it was not perfect. One of the things I had a problem with was the script writing. Though most of the time I thought it was witty and insightful, there were several times during the film in which the dialogue was painstakingly wooden and unsuitable for the occasion. Other times, the timing of the actors’ jokes and facial expressions seemed off. Whether it was forcing a laugh or pausing a little to long to deliver the witty punch line, there were a few awkward moments in an otherwise great film.

All in all, however, the movie was effective in accomplishing its goals. The pace was slow, but measured. It was rhythmic and methodical just like the passage of time and the onset of old age. As I watched the movie, I felt like I was slogging through a muddy swamp in the middle of a rainstorm. The characters in the film seemed to trudge through life as if they were trudging through this mud of time and purposelessness. Thus if a movie is to be judged by the extent to which it has accomplished the goals it set for itself, “Another Year” certainly succeeded in making me question what it means to live and to grow old.

Reviewed By: Hunter Hodge