Short-stories can provide amazingly rich fodder for feature-length films: for example, Brokeback Mountain, Jindabyne and many others. 45 Years is no exception. Based on the short-story In Another Country, by David Constantine, with script adaptation and direction by Andrew Haigh, this feature delivers in bucket-loads.
It’s the week leading up to a Saturday night party for their 45th anniversary for contented, childless couple, Kate and Geoff Mercer. On the Monday morning, Geoff receives a letter informing him that his previous girlfriend’s body has been found. Lost on a mountain in Switzerland in 1962, she has only emerged with the melting of a glacier. Kate has always known about the unlucky Katya, but begins to discover more and more about her and her relationship with Geoff as the week wears on.
Charlotte Rampling is luminous and heart-wrenchingly watchable as Kate, whilst Tom Courtenay delivers a career-topping performance as Geoff. This is nothing short of a master-class in screen acting. Smaller characters orbit around them, including Kate’s friend Lena, played by the unfailingly wonderful Geraldine James. But, true to its short-story beginnings, this tale revolves mainly around the two protagonists.
This is film-making of a rare intelligence, depth and beauty. It speaks of marriage, of love, of jealousy and of wasted life. Haigh has trusted his actors to deliver, without pushing them into unnecessarily high arcs. Emotions run deep and wild, but they are played out on the faces of Rampling and Courtenay, without any need for histrionics. Without doing a spoiler, I found the ending, (although, in terms of action, unremarkable), absolutely gutting.
There is no doubt that 45 Years will become a classic.
Reviewed by Tracey Korsten
Twitter: @TraceyKorsten
Rating out of 10: 10
This review was first published on 11 November 2015 as “British Film Festival Review: 45 Years” as part of our coverage of the 2015 BBC First British Film Festival at the Palace Nova Eastend Cinemas.
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