I thoroughly enjoyed this film from start to finish. So beautiful, brilliantly acted, and tells a unique love story that I have never really seen told in modern cinema. So much of the modern love story centres around young characters who are falling in love, or maybe some external catalyst pushes them to a rough spot that they ultimately overcome. But 45 Years focuses on a more mature couple, and that story really lends itself well to the more grounded and intimate journey.
It truly does feel like at every corner this film delivers something which I found completely original. While the idea of a character being lost nostalgically in an older relationship, especially with a milestone life event like an anniversary, is not entirely unique, the fact that it’s related to the discovery of a body and is revealed at the beginning of the film via a phone call to one of the principal characters starts the movie in such an intriguing direction. From that point on, Charlotte Rampling’s character serves as a conduit as we slowly find more details of Geoff’s older relationship and truly come to understand the depths of it.
Retroactively going back to watch this with full context of the fanfare around the film in 2015 and then finding out Charlotte was nominated for an Oscar for her performance was brilliant. I don’t know how much hype there might have been surrounding this film in the media, but I am glad to see a film like this get recognition at that scale, and Charlotte’s performance is certainly deserving of the nomination. I think the scene where she goes to the attic to look at the old photos on the projector was a highlight for me. The framing of her space through the projector as the images cycle, perfectly revealing just enough to the viewer, was brilliant, and the emotion conveyed by her throughout that scene was mesmerising.
It would be remiss not to mention Tom Courtenay, who plays Geoff with such subtlety that you’re never quite sure if he’s a man haunted by grief or a man using the past as an excuse for a lifetime of emotional distance. His performance is the perfect counterweight to Rampling’s, where she conveys everything through her eyes and silences, he conveys through what he doesn’t say. Together, they create a marriage that feels lived-in, not performed.
The film ends with a beautiful moment, a still hold of Charlotte’s face in a way that conveys to the viewer that while public appearances of their relationship seem strong, she still knows the truth about Geoff’s past. The film doesn’t feel it needs to tie the story together with a resolved and happy ending. Real life is more complex than that.
At times, the pacing can perhaps feel slightly slow, but I think it remedies this by creating a relaxing countryside ambience that leads, at its slowest moments, to an intimate and cozy time. But once the conflict rises or the secrets are discovered, I was on edge.
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