Spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Family and friendship. Love and comfort. Joy and sadness. Hope and discouragement. Brotherhood. Loneliness. A birth. A death. Time passes…
“Another Year”, a masterpiece of maturity by the British filmmaker Mike Leigh.
His last film “Be Happy” featured thirty-somethings, here he moves to the next generation, much like himself, in their sixties.
This dramedy immerses us in a year of the life of Tom and Gerry, a happy and peaceful couple in their sixties but surrounded by burdensome friends…
There’s Mary, the lost and funny friend who drinks and talks without saying anything, and Ted, a big guy who eats, drinks, and smokes cigarette after cigarette…
This old couple, full of kindness, wants to help their friends, but how and to what extent can they?
The composition of the film over a year, from spring to winter, from the kitchen to the garden, shows us the evolution of the characters’ feelings.
Indeed, as the seasons pass, the light casts a different illumination on this little world. Mary, funny in spring, moves us deeply by winter.
Mike Leigh masterfully handles his subject in this gentle balance between laughter and emotion.
“Another Year” is also a film about the passage of time, the difficulty of aging, and loneliness.
The director reflects the viewer’s own anxieties but does so humorously with irresistible dialogues.
The film may seem a bit long, but it is the time needed to delve into the heart of the characters…
The beauty of the film lies in this ability to narrate the complexity of the lives of these ordinary people.
A film not to miss!
