Archipelago (2011)

An Exercise In Nonsense

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Someone else noted 'Festen', a good reference point. The Joanna Hogg brand of social realism might work for a certain category of film festival attended by Guardian critics but small budget should not have to mean small impact. This was like being forced to watch Big Brother but the worse for having been duped into thinking that these witless, humourless, dunces might still break free from the great dollops of silence bolted on between one static camera shot and the next. The brief moment with that longing gaze at the carving knife as cook prepares to leave ...... that was the moment our long suffering and infinite patience might have been rewarded. Alas.

Reviewers of this film seem to fall into two camps. Those who think it is high art, full of significant silences, meaningful exchanges, astonishing cinematography and (good grief) moments of intense humour, and, well, those who don't.It may be that this film is so sophisticated that only those who have refined their critical faculties to a fine edge and learned the vocabulary of high cinematographic art can properly appreciate it. In the same way that some people might be able to distinguish between the exquisite flavours which subtly identify the boiled intestines of different Mongolian Marmots, or who think the finest coffee is only that for which the beans have been eaten and excreted by an Asian Palm Civet (that's true by the way). Unfortunately I am just an ordinary Joe, and eclectic as my tastes might be, I found this to be a pretty pointless, boring film.I understand that the dialogue was improvised. It's a strange thing, you would think that professional actors would know how to generate dialogue that resembled natural speech, instead we got something on a par with the sort of improvisation a crow uses when it makes a hook from a twig to fish stuff out of a hole. Oh, except that's actually clever; and interesting to watch.As to the "humour" which various commentators have observed, I can only assume that their measure of jollity is to stare at a blank grey wall for half an hour, and then to turn slowly to a distant image of dead sheep. Laugh? I could have. So, should you see this film? No.

If you have no expectation upon watching a movie, you are free to be impressed, touched or left blank of impression.This is a straight forward movie wrapped in the simplicity of real life depicted with brilliant realism. No fancy above the common mortal sort of thing. The dialogue is refreshing in it's simplicity, the interactions between the characters are what most every common family could relate to; criticism, estrangement as one grows older and becomes their own self, versus the memory of what others had of him/her.Actress Lydia Leonard is particularly vibrant in the interpretation of her role and one could only feel sympathy for Tom Hiddleston's most natural Edward as he tries to be nice to everyone while remaining true to himself. The mother, soft and shy Kate Fahy inspires the greater amount of sympathy as she tries to build bridges between the various characters. Amy Lloyd in the role of the cook Rose brings a bit of sunlight in the otherwise "bleak" and cold windy atmosphere, which I have to underline is brilliantly captured, especially through the eyes of Christopher Baker and as he interprets reality around him.

I've been around and spent time with the 'type' of people in Johanna Hogg's Isles of Scilly-set drama and there is that familiar dialogue; clipped, occasionally trite and with an efficient brevity. They live rather differently to me and like this film, I'm always just a little bit glad to get back to my own 'sort' after.Whilst I wasn't able to immerse myself in the story fully it does show that even the best bred, best intentioned families do have their emotions and crises and because, maybe, we're so used to only more 'normal' people swearing and shouting, that such folk don't. They tend to do it more privately, that's all.I can do slow - if you follow some of my favourite directors, slow is OK and admittedly this one brought my blood pressure down quite a few notches, the rather drab scenery and matt greyness of many of the interiors perhaps making a statement, or simply to hang the story on a blank canvas.Yes, it rolled on for nearly forever and whilst I'm sure (as is evident here, on IMDb) many found much to admire and appreciate, I won't be seeking a second viewing. I saw it on BBC2, very late.