Searchlight Pictures has released a first look at the upcoming film ALL OF US STRANGERS, from director Andrew Haigh (45 YEARS and LEAN ON PETE).
One night in his near-empty tower block in contemporary London, Adam (a screenwriter, played by Andrew Scott) has a chance encounter with his mysterious neighbor Harry (Paul Mescal) that punctures the rhythm of his everyday life. As Adam and Harry get closer, Adam is pulled back to his childhood home where it appears his long-dead parents (Claire Foy and Jamie Bell) are both living and look the same age as the day they died thirty years before.
With a screenplay by Andrew Haigh and produced by Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin, Sarah Harvey, ALL OF US STRANGERS will open in cinemas December 22, 2023.
One would think that after 45 years of marriage, a husband and wife would know everything about each other. As the British drama 45 YEARS reveals, in devastating fashion, there are some unknowns that may always remain between two people.
Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay give brilliant performances as a long-married couple in 45 YEARS, a subtle, moving drama about a couple whose lives are changed by an event long in the past. Rampling is deservedly nominated for an Oscar, after having gathered already a number of awards for her riveting performance, a performance that shows what a real actress can do.
As Kate (Rampling) and Geoff (Courtenay) Mercer prepare for their 45th anniversary party taking place at the end of that week, Geoff gets a letter from Switzerland, that reveals unknown parts of a long-ago past that have a profound effect on their marriage.
The film begins with the couple putter happily about their rural English cottage home, taking long walks with their dog and trips into the nearby Norfork village, where they meet with old friends. They have the kind of comfortable, almost telepathic connection of a happy long-married couple. Despite never having children, they seem content living a comfortable middle-class retirement after careers as a teacher for Kate and factory manager for Geoff.
When the letter arrives, things begin to take a strange turn. The letter, written in German that Geoff struggles to read, tells him that the body of his long-ago girlfriend Katya has been found in a crevasse where she fell to her death decades earlier. The letter comes to Geoff because he and Katya had been hiking through the Alps when the accident happened, and Geoff has been listed as her husband, as they were posing as a married couple although they were not actually married. The letter asked him, as next-of-kin, to come to Switzerland to identify the body although it could not be retrieved from the ice, something that would require him to hike up the mountain.
The request was impractical, of course, and it seems as if Geoff dismisses it. Kate vaguely remembered her husband telling her about the girlfriend who died before they met but had not thought much about it. Yet, as the week progresses, Geoff’ seems more agitated and obsessed with the long-dead woman, going through old mementos in the attic and secretly smoking again. Kate is put in the strange position of feeling jealous of a long-vanished rival, wondering about what it means for her marriage.
After seeming the kind of couple their friends hold up as a perfect marriage, that their marriage can be thrown into a sudden crisis by someone long dead, gone before they even met, seems inconceivable. Still, the film reveals how someone can be married to someone else for many years and still not truly know that person.
The film avoids the stereotypes commonly found is films about older people. British director Andrew Haigh (“Weekend”) structures the drama as a day-by-day countdown, as they prepare for a party to celebrate their 45th anniversary. Courtenay is excellent but the drama’s real focus is on Rampling, who delivers the performance of a lifetime.
As they count down the days to the anniversary party, the news works on their relationship, with Kate feeling an unreasonable jealousy of a dead rival, and Geoff descending into a secretive nostalgia, where he talks about going to Switzerland to see her body, still encased in ice and inaccessible, sneaking up to the attic to go through old mementos from that time in his life.
While Kate’s view of her marriage is unraveling at home, they have to maintain their “perfect couple” facade for their friends as they prepare from the big party. The anniversary seems an odd one to celebrate with a big party but we learn that a 40th anniversary party had been canceled after Geoff had a health crisis. The 45 year mark might seem like a good substitute for a couple where there are questions about whether the husband will make it to the 50th.
45 YEARS is exquisitely acted with Rampling giving a tour-de-force performance of such subtle power it is breathtaking. The subtle, sensitive way this story is told adds to its strength, an quiet yet powerful exploration of emotions and perceptions. Rampling is astounding, and while Courtenay is excellent, it is her performance dominates in this film. While Courtenay’s emotions are all on the surface, even where Geoff is less forthcoming on his thoughts, Rampling’s performance is all subtlety and small gestures. In the final sequence, a series of emotions play across her face indicating she is seeing her husband in a new and unwelcome way, one that undermines all she believes about her marriage.
The film ends as a shattering realization dawns on Kate, while she is surrounded by people at the festive party. The epiphany is one that she must face going forward, and effect on the audience is devastating, despite the subtle way it unfolds across Rampling’s face and through her body language. It is a haunting scene, painful and inevitable, one that will linger in the mind just as 45 YEARS does.
45 YEARS OPENS IN ST. LOUIS ON FRIDAY, JANUARY 29TH AT LANDMARK’S PLAZA FRONTENAC CINEMA
Here’s a first look at the new trailer for Andrew Haigh’s superb 45 YEARS.
The film presents a new take on relationships, old age, forgiveness and jealousy, from a writer/director with a unique insight into relationships. It also presents two performances from treasured stars of British cinema, Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay.
Andrew Haigh’s screenplay is adapted from David Constantine’s short story “In Another Country.”
The film screened at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. In his review, Lou Lumenick (NY Post) says Rampling delivers, “what’s possibly the best scene of her entire career. The actress has never received an Oscar nomination, but she deserves one for this performance. Courtenay, who has two Oscar nods under his belt, rates another one for helping Rampling reach this peak.”
There is just one week until Kate Mercer’s (Rampling) 45th wedding anniversary and the planning for the party is going well. But then a letter arrives for her husband (Courtenay). The body of his first love has been discovered, frozen and preserved in the icy glaciers of the Swiss Alps. By the time the party is upon them, five days later, there may not be a marriage left to celebrate.
Haigh’s film captures, with haunting acuity, just how vulnerable their marriage becomes when past pain surfaces and past jealousy is reawakened.
If Haigh’s previous feature film, 2011’s highly-acclaimed WEEKEND, depicted a barely-begun relationship that may or may not go on to flourish beyond the titular two-day span, this follow-up feature takes the opposite narrative tack. The concerns of 45 YEARS, however, are unexpectedly similar to those of Haigh’s memorable breakout film. How does trust establish itself, and love express itself? How close can we get to another, and how much should we expect to always operate alone?
In his appreciation for these two actors, Haigh says, “Charlotte is a fiercely intelligent actress. She knows what feels truthful and what does not. When I watch her on screen I see a hurricane of emotion under the surface, behind those eyes. You are invited to observe but also warned to keep your distance. That feels incredibly true to me. They are things all of us should keep to ourselves.”
Haigh continues, “There is vulnerability to Tom and to his performance. The last thing I wanted for this film was an angry man raging at the world; I’ve seen that on screen too many times before. I wanted something more complex, something more sensitive. Here is a character struggling with his own sense of self, not the villain of the piece. Hopefully in 45 Years there are no villains, just people trying to figure things out.”
Leave some space on your ballots come awards season for the film, actors, screenplay and director.
After its opening weekend grosses and enthusiastic response at the IFC Center in New York, Andrew Haigh’s romantic drama “Weekend” will be expanding this Friday, September 30th to the Clearview Chelsea Cinemas in New York, as well as the Sunset 5 in West Hollywood, the Monica in Santa Monica and the Playhouse in Pasadena. In addition, it will be available On Demand beginning Friday. The film will expand to further cities, including Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington D.C. and San Francisco, the following Friday, October 7th.
WEEKEND follows the unexpected 48 hours spent between Russell (Tom Cullen) and Glen (Chris New) – after meeting at a nightclub on a Friday night – that will resonate throughout their lives. WEEKEND won the Audience Award (Emerging Visions) at SXSW Festival 2011 and Jury Prize at Outfest 2011.
