Starring: Charlotte Rampling, Tom Courtenay
45 Years
Director: Andrew Haigh
Rating: 4.5/5
45 Years is a movie that just about everyone has been raving about since it was screen in the main competition at the Berlin International Film Festival - where Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay went on to win the Silver Bear for Best Actress and Best Actor.
Finally, 45 Years has hit the big screen this year and is one of the best dramas that we have so far this year. The movie is based on the short story In Another Country by David Constantine and sees Andrew Haigh back in the director's chair for the first time since Weekend back in 2011.
45 years follows the life of Kate Mercer (Rampling) during the five days leading up to her forty-fifth wedding anniversary. Party plans are going well, until a letter arrives for her husband Geoff (Courtenay) informing him that the body of his first love has been found frozen in the icy glaciers of the Swiss Alps. As their anniversary celebrations grow closer, they delve further into their past, leaving their future in question.
Rampling and Courtenay are two of this country's finest actors and it is wonderful to see them sharing the screen together whilst being truly at the top of their game. There are Oscar whispers surrounding these two stunning performances and I would love to see them in the race for best Actress and Best Actor come the beginning of next year.
The both deliver very moving performances and tragic performances as their forty five year marriage starts to unravel. Courtenay plays a man who becomes haunted by the past and a love that he lost many years ago. He retreats from the present and tries to go back and relive the times that he had with this first love. Would this man's life have been totally different had this tragedy not occured?
I have always been a huge fan of Rampling and she gives a towering performance as Geoff's husband Kate. At first, Kate tries to be a support for Geoff as he is given this shocking news. However, support soon turns to jealousy of a long-dead love rival and doubt about their marriage and relationship soon start to creep in.
The character of Kate really is the film's emotional driving force and yet Rampling plays it with such poise and control. This is more a movie that explores inner turmoil rather than raging emotions that are clear to see - both Rampling and Courtenay capture this silent turmoil so beautifully.
From start to finish, 45 Years is a classy relationship drama that is absorbing as it is moving and totally heartbreaking. This is a story about tragedy, ghosts and being haunted by the past - and it is these themes that make it so raw and relatable.
45 Years has been whipping up a storm on the festival circuit this year and it is a movie that doesn't disappoint. Andrew Haigh should be commended for this elegant movie that is packed with tension at every turn. The director really does notch up that tension and apprehension throughout the film as he explores love and loss in fine style.
45 Years is out now.
Tagged in Charlotte Rampling Tom Courtenay