45 YEARS
Starring: Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay
Directed by: Andrew Haigh
Written by: Andrew Haigh
Based on the book “In Another Country” by: David Constantine
Rated: R
Running Time: 1hr 35mins
WINNER – Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards – Best Actress (Charlotte Rampling)
WINNER – National Board of Review – Top Ten Independent Films
NOMINEE – Academy Award – (Charlotte Rampling)
NOMINEE – Critics Choice Awards – Best Actress (Charlotte Rampling)
“What was so beautiful about the original story was this central idea, this past event breaking into the present and having a profound effect on a seemingly stable marriage. Director Andrew Haigh” – Director – Andrew Haigh – American Film Institute
There is a moment at the end of “45 YEARS” where the film transitions from an engaging, straightforward character piece into a brilliant exploration of the real impact the ghosts of our past can have on our lives. Over the course of a two-minute and forty-second song, the meaning behind much of what’s just unfolded shifts and the film takes on a new emotional life. It’s a revelation that doesn’t provide answers but rather recontextualizes everything that came before it, forcing the viewer, along with the story’s lead, Kate, to reevaluate the meaning of everything that’s just been experienced. It’s the kind of ending that will not only create some interesting conversations among those watching it but also made me personally want to revisit the film in order to better understand how the subtle pieces fit together while gaining a new insight into the central relationship being presented.
Based on the short story “In Another Country” by David Constantine, the film follows the lives of a married couple, Geoff and Kate, as they prepare to celebrate their 45th wedding anniversary. Just days before the celebration, a letter arrives addressed to Geoff, revealing that the body of his long-lost love Katya has been found. It turns out that before Geoff and Kate met, Katya went missing after an accident where she fell into a deep crevasse while hiking in the Swiss Alps. The discovery of Katya’s body causes a rift in Geoff and Kate’s marriage, as it seems that the memories of this lost love begin to flood back into Geoff’s mind. The film is a perfect example of how the ghosts of our past can suddenly impact our relationships when they resurface many years later. Or at least that appears to be the case, until those final moments when the viewer realizes that it goes much deeper and ultimately proves to be much more profound.
The script, written by the film’s director, Andrew Haigh, is notable for its approach to the characters involved. The revelation regarding the body’s discovery is one that should affect Geoff more than Kate, and I have to admit that I expected the story to concentrate more on his emotions as he dealt with the sudden news. Haigh takes a different route, though. Instead of exploring the obvious target, his script focuses on Kate as she begins to witness her husband’s behavioral reaction to the discovery. It’s about her feelings as she witnesses Geoff start to act in a way that is reminiscent of having an affair, even if it’s only with his memories of Katya. We see everything through Kate’s eyes, as she is the only one present in every scene. As the days leading up to their big anniversary party pass, she begins to see Geoff secretly retreat into the memories of his days with Katya, seemingly coming back after they were assumed to have been long forgotten. By taking Kate’s perspective on the events, the movie becomes more interesting and less predictable in its emotional impact as it is not about Geoff battling with his feelings towards Katya at all, but rather about Kate’s reevaluation of her marriage.
As director, Haigh adopts a more subtle approach to the film, avoiding the attempt to over-manipulate the viewer’s emotions. This allows the film to maintain a more genuine and relatable emotional connection between Kate and Geoff. There appears to be minimal reliance on filmmaking tricks to sway the audience’s emotions. Instead of deliberate editing, much of the movie unfolds in long, unbroken shots, with the camera serving as a silent observer for most of the running time, employing only the occasional, yet subtle, camera moves. The viewer is treated as a spectator (a fly on the wall), giving the emotional tone of the individual scenes a more authentic quality, as it’s left up to us to respond in our own way, rather than in the way the filmmaker is subconsciously steering us. This is largely evident in the absence of a musical score, a common feature in most films, used to evoke specific emotions. In fact, the only music present in 45 YEARS are old songs that the characters can hear and react to as they are actually a part of the scenes themselves, rather than the kind of non-diegetic score that’s pure background.
Both Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay deliver outstanding performances (Rampling received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress). It’s a film of small moments, in which the silent emotions that emerge are more important than any dialogue. It takes real talent for an actor to pull this off in a genuine manner, yet Rampling and Courteney are both up to the task. The two leads work well together, and the growing tension can be effectively felt as the film progresses. Ultimately, it’s Rampling who brings most of the emotion to the movie as a character whose married life seems to be taking a turn down the wrong path. Her facial expressions, at times, are more important than the dialogue she speaks and some of the movie’s more emotional moments are the silent ones. The complexity of Kate’s emotions works because Rampling hits every note perfectly.
Then there’s the character of Katya herself. Although she doesn’t occupy more than 30 seconds of screen time and is only visible in old photographs projected on a screen in the attic of the couple’s house, her presence can be felt within every minute of screen time after the arrival of the letter. The writing evokes Katya’s memory in both subtle and intelligent ways, as the two leads seem to always have her on their minds. In the end, 45 YEARS becomes an emotionally haunting ghost story without ever needing to give the viewer the physical presence of a ghost.
45 YEARS is a movie about recognizing the true meaning of everything in our lives. It will cause many to question how much they really know about the person they have spent most of their life with. With the final shot, Haigh creates an effective moment in which we understand that Kate and Geoff are in very different places and view their marriage from different perspectives. This is a film which may prompt the viewer to look back on their own relationships with those they love (not just their spouse) with a whole new understanding.
Watch 45 Years
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I’m so with you on how resonating this film is! If you’re interested, I just posted a blog post on this very interesting film: https://www.yourfilmprofessor.com/45-years-an-existential-ghost-story/