— by Paula Treneer —
OIFF Film Review: “Marshlands”, Goya-award winning Spanish crime drama
Orcas Island Film Festival continued its impressive line-up of award-winning foreign films with “Marshlands,” a 2014 Spanish release which won ten Goya awards, including Best Director for Alberto Rodriguez and best actor for Javier Gutierrez, one of the two lead actors.
Two homicide detectives from Madrid find themselves in a small Andalusian town on the edges of the Guadalquivir Marshes, during an investigation of the disappearance and brutal murder of two teenagers following the annual town festival. The gruesome pursuit of evidence sees the inquiry widening to encompass similar murders, resulting in the pair’s diligent pursuit of a serial killer against a subtly nuanced social-political backdrop that hints at the social turmoil accompanying the recent fall of Generalissimo Franco.
The opposing political views of the pair are revealed slowly, as well as their individual histories and fall from grace in Madrid. The successful apprehending of the serial murderer is seen as key to restoring the reputation of at least one of the detectives, as his partner muses cynically at the outset of the case.
The film’s strengths include its cinematography, featuring a number of high-overhead photographic shots highlighting the unusual marshland landscape, as well as its fine performances and subtle social-political commentary. The final action sequence, shot in the marshlands in thoroughly inclement weather, is worthy of the crime suspense genre.
OIFF Film Review: “45 Years” starring Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay
The star power of the two leading actors in this sentimental drama set in the Norfolk countryside filled the Sea View Theater on Sunday. The film follows a week in the life of an elderly couple prior to their upcoming 45th wedding anniversary celebration, following receipt of news that is potentially life-changing for the couple.
Based on the short story “In Another Country,” according to the film credits, the tension between the married couple escalates over the course of the week as the wife discovers the extent to which her husband has hidden crucial facts about a prior tragic relationship from her.
The idyllic country setting of the couple’s rural retirement initially creates a familiar palette of placid English country life, and continues to provide a visually stimulating backdrop to the relationship drama, featuring a picturesque nearby village and riverboat outings to nearby Roman-era peat bogs.
Charlotte Rampling’s Kate Mercer is a tour-de-force of subtle character development, as she progresses from a tender caregiver to her older husband, to a study in repressed anger. “Sir Thomas,” Tom Courtenay, effectively portrays her husband’s self-absorption, as he dwells on the traumatic recollection of earlier events, waking up somewhat late to the long-term consequences on his marriage of the revelations. The film communicates its characters as much by their wardrobe and pastimes as from their script, as Charlotte Rampling’s Parisian-influenced casual wear contrasts with Tom Courtenay’s naturalism and pugnacity, hearkening back to his youthful portrayal of Pasha Antipov in an earlier study of self-absorption.
The film doesn’t achieve the virtuosic performances of Jean-Louis Trintignant or Emanuelle Riva in Michael Haneke’s “Amour”, but is an easier viewing experience than that portrayal of a marriage at life’s end.
Excellent review. The transition from devoted wife to one who is shocked into subdued but powerful anger a powerful point, but Courtney’s self-absorption is an issue that I had not quite put into words. Well analysed review.
Glad you enjoyed it, Elly. So exciting to have a professional caliberfilm festival on Orcas!