Joanna Hogg's first film as director, the well-received "Unrelated", suggested that a very special talent indeed had arrived on the scene. In that film Ms Hogg eschewed a complex plot in favour of a style which was fiercely realistic and at times claustrophobically close to real life. There were a few lively plot developments but it was generally an understated film and the better for that. In Archipelago Ms Hogg takes the realism a tad further and has created an even more plot-less story – really nothing happens at all in nearly two hours! We are spying on a middle class English family, as in "Unrelated", as they take a holiday and struggle rather to communicate with one another. As in her first film the director shows us people who are related to one another but who don't really "relate". The Leighton family have rented a house in Trego one of the Scilly Islands - it is autumn and the weather is bleak and the island seems deserted. For a moment I thought that we might be in "thriller" territory and that the family might be made captive and a ransom would be demanded from the absent father. Nothing so obvious! Next I sensed that there might be a bit of heavy romance as the pretty cook Rose (Amy Lloyd) clearly fancies the young man Edward (Tom Hiddleston) – but she waits in vain for a move from him. In a fairly unpleasant family Edward is the most sympathetic and his uncertain decision to give up a City job and go to Africa for a year suggests a liberal conscience – an altruism that his unpleasant mother Patricia (Kate Fahy) and equally unpleasant sister Cynthia (Lydia Leonard) clearly think is mad.
There are many pointers to this being a family spoilt by wealth and privilege. Edward's girlfriend Chloe wasn't allowed to join him on the holiday because she is "not family, just someone you're attached to" – an excruciatingly snobbish remark. Similarly Rose, the cook, is not allowed to dine with the family despite Edward's request that she be treated as an equal. A phoney middle class affection for things arty is fulfilled by the presence of Christopher (Christopher Baker) who teaches the mother and daughter painting. Again there is a master/servant relationship going on here – albeit one less pronounced than that of Rose. And the most dramatic scene takes place in an almost empty restaurant where Patricia complains about the food and is treated with polite contempt by the summonsed chef who explains that Guinea Fowl should be served underdone.
The Leighton family live in a sad world with little joy but many perceived burdens. The holiday is not exactly a disaster - what did they expect from Trego in November? But you wonder what, if anything, any character gets out of it. It is pointless. As a movie it is so understated and so intense that you ache at times for something to happen and constantly try and work out what that something might be. The answer, by the end, is nothing! Put like this the film sounds like one of those modern pieces of music where you wait in vain for a melody that you can hum after the concert. The problem with holding a mirror up to life is that when the mirror reflects back nothing much you rather struggle to explain what the point is. In Joanna Hogg's two films there has been barely a character that you would allow through the front door of your house – maybe Rose in this one but she is really only the least unconvivial. The cinematography is excellent. The location is bleakly beautiful. The performances are good. And yet the overall feeling for this reviewer was one of disappointment. In short I needed a bit more than this to provoke me into to thinking about life, love and the pursuit of happiness.
There are many pointers to this being a family spoilt by wealth and privilege. Edward's girlfriend Chloe wasn't allowed to join him on the holiday because she is "not family, just someone you're attached to" – an excruciatingly snobbish remark. Similarly Rose, the cook, is not allowed to dine with the family despite Edward's request that she be treated as an equal. A phoney middle class affection for things arty is fulfilled by the presence of Christopher (Christopher Baker) who teaches the mother and daughter painting. Again there is a master/servant relationship going on here – albeit one less pronounced than that of Rose. And the most dramatic scene takes place in an almost empty restaurant where Patricia complains about the food and is treated with polite contempt by the summonsed chef who explains that Guinea Fowl should be served underdone.
The Leighton family live in a sad world with little joy but many perceived burdens. The holiday is not exactly a disaster - what did they expect from Trego in November? But you wonder what, if anything, any character gets out of it. It is pointless. As a movie it is so understated and so intense that you ache at times for something to happen and constantly try and work out what that something might be. The answer, by the end, is nothing! Put like this the film sounds like one of those modern pieces of music where you wait in vain for a melody that you can hum after the concert. The problem with holding a mirror up to life is that when the mirror reflects back nothing much you rather struggle to explain what the point is. In Joanna Hogg's two films there has been barely a character that you would allow through the front door of your house – maybe Rose in this one but she is really only the least unconvivial. The cinematography is excellent. The location is bleakly beautiful. The performances are good. And yet the overall feeling for this reviewer was one of disappointment. In short I needed a bit more than this to provoke me into to thinking about life, love and the pursuit of happiness.