45 Years - Film Review

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Starring Charlotte Rampling as Kate Mercer and Tom Courtenay as Geoff Mercer, 45 Years is a simple yet poignant story of an aging and childless couple, living in the countryside. Director Andrew Haigh makes the movie a special watch by giving it a realistic touch. The film is an adaptation of David Constantine's short story - In Another Country.



The story takes place over the course of a week transforming into an emotional journey. Headed towards completion of 45 years of marriage, Kate and Geoff are looking forward to a grand celebration unbeknown to the shattering news about to hit them. Geoff receives a letter in German and is crestfallen on hearing about the discovery of his ex-girlfriend's body buried deep inside a glacier (into a crevasse of which she fell while trekking) in Switzerland. Kate watches helplessly as Geoff gets obsessively nostalgic.





He starts smoking again and frequently speaking of Katya, the girl he loved so dearly and would have married had her life not ended so devastatingly. He reveals to Kate that the letter was sent to him because the authorities thought he was married to Katya. They both acted married to be able to stay together and she wore an oaken ring to authenticate genuinity of the relationship. On one occasion, Kate finds Geoff in the attic late at night with a photograph of Katya.





Deeply hurt by her husband's emotional connection with the girl through all these years, Kate becomes introspective about her own place in Geoff's life. She starts looking for more clues to his past and stumbles upon Geoff's diary. She finds pictures that completely shake her faith in their marriage. Will she find the courage to put the pieces back again? What will their 45th Anniversary turn out to be - a celebration of togetherness or a contemplation of past events?



45 Years is an exploration of the subtleties of a wife's faith and feelings, the coping of a woman with the emotional turmoil that threatens to destroy the very foundations of her marriage.



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