Another Year

Another Year (2010)
Director: Mike Leigh
Starring: Jim Broadbent, Ruth Sheen, and Lesley Manville

SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT!
如果你有打算看這部片的話, 不要往下看.

很喜歡這部電影! 我在跟朋友推薦這部的時候花了很長的時間決定如何形容我對它的評價. 是 fantastic 嗎? 不適合. 是 brilliant 嗎? 也不適合. 也不是 amazing. 最終我決定, 應該是 great, 跟這部電影才適合--great 這個字出現的太平凡了就像 unique 這個字一樣, 使得它本身的意義也變平凡了, 可是我覺得這樣反而才是對的形容詞, 因為它本身跟這部電影還有我喜歡它的原因一致. 關於平凡的一年的電影, 平凡的不平凡. 就像這部片子像是一個淡淡但舒服的茶, 我也很喜歡它, 所以淡淡的愛它.

基本上, Another Year 的情節是一對老夫老妻的又一個平凡的一年, 有上有下, 可是哪一年不是這樣? (Gonna sidetrack now: so I think Netflix is so wrong to describe it as a "tumultuous year") 通過他們平凡但快樂的生活看見了他們周遭朋友及家人的不幸. 沒有人真正經歷了什麼大事, 也都算是平凡, 但是各有平凡人的苦惱跟問題. 雖然好像這對夫妻是主角, 但是我覺得真正的主角反而是Mary, 一個 sad, upsettingly pathetic, and desperate 角色.

Mary is in denial about her unhappiness and the state of mess she's in, but nobody's fooled, not even herself. She's lonely, kind of a bitch, annoying, makes all kinds of social faux pas, way too clingy, and she's a joke to others. But that's what's so sad and upsetting about watching how pathetic she is and how desperate she's trying to escape her life and problems. Nothing significantly traumatic happened to her. Just life. Life happened to her, c'est la vie. She didn't aspire to end up that way--nobody does. That's why it's so painful to watch her make a fool of herself, get laughed at and mocked by others, providing comedic moments to the audience when they're actually moments of incredible pain and sadness for her. It's not her fault she's the way she is, using Tom and Gerri's family as a stand-in for her own. Life happened. It's easy for me to judge and sneer at how pathetic and tragic of a person she is, but really it could be any of us and it might already be one of us. 最後只能說, 就是命呀, 沒法度. That last shot of Mary was heartbreaking.

Anyway, the acting was stellar and believable, the movie was so organic and natural i almost felt like a fly on the wall getting a glimpse of a average family during an average year. You feel and understand every emotion the characters have. It's like one of those movies that try to give you a-day-in-the-life-of-blahblahblah, but succeeding at it. It's not trite or artificial. Because the acting was so good, their character interactions and feelings and emotions felt so true. The emotions they've felt are ones the audience have felt before, so you can understand where the characters are coming from emotionally and really connect. The characters remind me of events, people, and relationships in my life, but that's just it--it's just another year in an average person's life, it could've been mine.

The movie was so at peace with itself and content about what it is, it's not pretentious, or trying to make some social commentary or call to action, it's not neat and tidy. It's another year, period.