“This is quiet meditation on married life; what makes our lives happy once the demands of parenthood have gone? How do you communicate when you haven’t for so long?”
Con Nats
3 Stars or equivalent
No one talks about what happened in Belfast, but many are still haunted by it. Stella (Lesley Manville) survived a bullet from a soldier as did her unborn babe. After his birth, Stella left Ireland with her son and husband Gerry (Ciarán Hinds) for Scotland. They are now in their seventies, living a quiet life. Stella goes to church. Gerry likes a sly scotch and their son doesn’t call, even at Christmas. So Stella buys two tickets to Amsterdam for a midwinter break.
Their time away is uneventful but all the drama is in their insides as their little holiday unfolds. It seems Stella has an ulterior motive and is still carrying the scars of her near-death experience.
She doesn’t head to the Greek islands and Gerry doesn’t buy a Harley. This is quiet meditation on married life; what makes our lives happy once the demands of parenthood have gone? How do you communicate when you haven’t for so long?
The storylines are gentle. The friction doesn’t generate an explosion but some sparks. There are no long Americanesque declarations. In fact, their lack of communication is frustrating, but leaves a great deal between the lines.
This leaves a lot to the actors and theatre director Polly Findlay has two safe hands to carry this story. Lesley Manville is lovely as Stella and Hinds matches her warm energy. He’s no ogre we are led to dislike; real life is more complex than that. Their chemistry makes this film work and Amsterdam is a lovely backdrop.
This is based on the novel by Bernard MacLaverty, who was involved in the script. It’s been kept sparse and this shows the difficulty in converting novels into film. Film struggles to capture the inner thoughts of the characters and this story is all about that.
This is a film which is squarely aimed at its demographic of older married couples. For this audience, it will resonate deeply. For the younger, it will have not much to say. When they get older, they’ll understand.
3 Sly Scotches
Con Nats, On The Screen
