THE SOUVENIR (J. Hogg, 2019)
Review by Christopher S. Long
(I promised myself I'd write about at
least a few new releases this year, so here are some quick thoughts
about one title I just caught up with.)
The capsule descriptions of Joanna
Hogg's “The Souvenir” (2019) seem specifically targeted to
driving me away.
“A coming of age story.” Oh Lordy,
there must be a good baseball game on somewhere.
“A study of a relationship in
crisis.” Maybe this would be a good time to clean the bathroom.
Dialogue heavy, slice of
upper-middle-class English life... Hoo boy. I only checked this one
out of the library because it happened to sitting right there on the
New Release shelf (yes, I still check actual, physical DVDs out of an
actual, physical library) staring at me and because I'd read a good
deal of persuasive praise about Joanna Hogg's previous films such as
“Archipelago” (2010) and “Exhibition” (2013). I'm delighted
that I did so.
“The Souvenir” is, at least to some
degree, all of the things it was made out to be (though the “graphic
nudity” warning tag hardly seems merited), but none of these quick
hits touch on the film's idiosyncratic and deceptively complex style.
But before delving into that, here's a quick plot summary: The
setting is England circa 1983/1984, and Julie (Honor Swinton Byrne)
is a 20-ish film school student deep in pre-production (the phase
when your film has its best chance of being a masterpiece – before
you actually start shooting) on her first feature. While polishing
(and polishing and polishing) her script, she meets Anthony (Tom
Burke), an apparently suave and wealthy Foreign Office functionary,
and they fall in love.
Writer/director Hogg displays virtually
no interest in exposition or set up of any kind. The instant Anthony
is introduced, it feels as if he's always been there; perhaps because
he so quickly becomes an important presence in Julie's life. Their
relationship unfolds across discrete spots of time, the narrative
leaping forward from one vignette to the next. Julie and Anthony have
just met, and one cut later they're together. In the next scene
they've been a couple for months, later they've clearly just had an
argument, they've broken up, then reunited, etc. Hogg's confidence in
her ability to convey a wealth of information with a few brushstrokes
extends to her audience, who she trusts to do the work necessary to
catch up and fill in the gaps. A bold bet to make, but also an
efficient way of self-selecting the right audience for your work.
Much of the negative feedback stems
from viewers who claim they don't understand what Julie finds so
appealing about Anthony who, as it turns out, is hiding a secret that
has the potential to destroy both of them. This complaint misses
what's so powerful about the film's propulsive style. Every moment of
the film is so immediate, so constantly now, that you simply accept
what is happening as axiomatic. To ask why Julie loves Anthony makes
as much sense as asking why it's raining now. It just is.
“The Souvenir” reminds me in a
tangential way of Terrence Malick's shamefully underrated “To The
Wonder” (2012) which also careened from highlight to lowlight to
highlight in a tempestuous relationship. But where Malick was
conducting a symphony, Hogg operates in a much less flashy idiom. Not
prosaic, that's not right. I'm struggling for the proper description.
More rooted? More improvisatory than carefully orchestrated? No, that
makes it seem like she's not meticulously planning and in total
control, which she certainly is. I dunno, give me more time to think
about it. But Hogg speaks with a unique voice, and a style that is
distinctive without ostentation.
Honor Swinton Byrne is great, turning
in the best performance I've seen so far this year, though I admit I
haven't seen many new releases so far. She plays meek and naïve and
self-doubting without ever coming off as weak or straining viewer
sympathy in the process. She's the daughter of Tilda Swinton, who
also plays her mother in the film, so I suppose it shouldn't be a
shock that she's so accomplished in her first lead role, also just
her second official film credit according to IMDB. But she sure is
fantastic.
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