DCP at Lincoln Center (Mike Leigh retrospective)
“This little car is going to change my life.”
Spoiler: it did not.
Walked out of the theater behind two women who were seemingly very offended by the film. I heard one say that it was a “disappointingly one-dimensional depiction of being an older single woman”—which was pretty funny since she herself was probably only in her early 30s. Then on the other side of the spectrum, one young man in the middle row was flipping through his phone the entire film, evidently unengaged with what was going on on the much larger screen in front of him. I always find it interesting that a single movie can evoke such varying negative reactions, from vitriol to complete disengagement.
Well jokes on them—I’m that single middle-aged woman, and I think Another Year is pretty accurate!
Of all his films, this one reflects Leigh’s admiration for Ozu the most (Tokyo Story is one of the few movies he picked for both the 2012 and 2022 Sight and Sound polls). Much like with Ozu’s films, pleasantries account for 95% of the dialogue, but that makes the sorrowful glances, the discordant body language, the briefly dropped smiles all the more piercing. Most of Leigh’s work—Secrets and Lies, Vera Drake, All or Nothing, etc—have major revelations and heated confrontations littered throughout while Another Year places its emotional heights in the quiet moments: racking focus on a look over the shoulder, holding on an embrace, panning slowly to a silent woman at the chattering dinner table. Secretly, maybe, his most powerful work.
Lesley Manville is basically alcoholic Noriko if that makes any sense.