Ryan McNeil
Many of the films I’ve seen over the last few months have been real-life stories of families trying to weather great stresses. The very fabric of their bonds feels worn down to its last thread, and time after time they struggle just to make it through another day.
Then there’s ANOTHER YEAR…
The story of a couple that care about each other so much that they have plenty of warmth left over for their friends who truly need it. After seeing so many stories of struggling relationships, it’s safe to say that this movie could not have come at a better time.
ANOTHER YEAR is the story of Gerri and Tom Hepple (Ruth Sheen and Jim Broadbent). It gives us a year in the life of this loving couple, who may be getting on in years but still obviously love each other very much. Not only do they love each other, but they have a great deal of love for their friends and family whom they regularly welcome into their home.
There’s Ken, an old friend of Tom’s who comes by in the summer months to catch up with his old friends. Ken and Tom obviously go back a ways, and it seems like Tom is still holding on to who Ken was rather than truly engaging who he is. In no uncertain terms, Ken is a mess. He’s a slob, he’s directionless, and he almost seems to have given up on the world. Nevertheless, Gerri and Tom care for him “warts and all”. They aren’t the sort to push someone away just because they’re wasting potential.
There’s also Ronnie, Tom’s brother. Ronnie’s meagre life gets turned upside down, and it would appear as though he doesn’t have anyone else to turn to. What’s worse, is that Ronnie’s relationship with his son Carl has turned volatile. Not ones to leave family out in the cold, Gerri and Tom invite Ronnie to come and live with them. They are the sort to reach out to family at such times, and not leave them to fend for themselves.
But most of all there’s Mary (Leslie Manville). More than any of their friends, Mary is the one whom Tom & Gerri give the most of themselves to. There’s no special reason for her to have a place of honour – she’s no worse off than someone like Ken or Ronnie. She just seems to be around rather often, usually drifting over the line of friendship and wandering into the land of imposition. Mary is rather mixed-up, and with that mixed-up feelings come a certain level of neediness.
This sad neediness that Mary exudes might push some people to lash out in frustration…but Tom & Gerri aren’t exactly “some people”
The charm of ANOTHER YEAR is the way it structures itself around the passing and changing of the seasons. That passage of time is echoed warmly with the gardening habits of Tom & Gerri. They give each other constant care and attention, and as such are able to harvest the joys of life year after year.
Conversely, Mary feels like a patch of garden that has gone untended for many many season, and as such is unable to harvest any sort of fruits of happiness. What’s sad is that Mary doesn’t seem all that interested in sorting herself out. We’ve all met someone like her: Those who only want to whine about their lot in life. They don’t want tea and sympathy so much as they want wine and complacency.
Mannville plays this role amazingly. She finds a charm that would in fact have you agreeing to go for a drink after work, and as she’s allowed to talk (and talk, and talk) she makes you want to make up a lie about suddenly being needed quite urgently.
Writer and director Mike Leigh has created something rather special with ANOTHER YEAR. He has created a very plausible story, and infused it with a lot of reaffirming truth. With Gerri & Tom he’s given us a how-to on how to make a loving relationship endure, and likewise taught us that a home is meant to be shared with the special people in our lives that we inevitably don’t spend enough time with.
The movie isn’t sexy, and as such can easily get glossed over at a multiplex (If one can even find a multiplex playing it). However, the fact that it’s constructed around plausible characters carries quite a bit of currency. Characters like these feel familiar…they could be our neighbours, our co-workers, even relatives we should be spending more time with.
Not only are they plausible, but in many ways they are a rarity. This is a world where what was once a seven-year-itch is now down to three years, and people are letting go of what they gave so much of themselves to with greater and greater ease.
As it happens, I probably know more people who act like Mary than I do like Gerri & Tom – and that’s what makes this story so bittersweet. Its central characters come across as the sort of people who live such a simple life, when in reality what they have – and how it endured through year after another year -likely took a lot of time, work, and patience.