Tue, Apr 26; Thu, Apr 28. Q&A and film club with director, Joanna Hogg, Apr 26
“A testing, beguiling, beautiful film.” Tom Seymour, Little White Lies
With her directorial debut, Unrelated, Joanna Hogg announced herself as a filmmaker with a distinctive vision, and her specialist subject is upper-middle class English family life. Hogg, herself the product of affluent Middle England, is highly literate in the unspoken dialogue of these relationships, and of the subtle bonds that ensnare even the members of an unhappy family. The premise in Archipelago is a family holiday on the Scilly isle of Tresco. They are gathered to send-off the son who is going off to pursue a dream of ‘Service’ in impoverished Africa. Celebration gradually cedes to internecine arguing as doubt, jealousy and vulnerability take hold. Hogg is understanding enough of her subject, though, not to leave all fractured, and she shows how, ultimately, the family bonds will surmount the differences. If for no other reason, see this film for a perfect storm of a scene in which the daughter sends her meal back! Throughout, the performances – from Tom Hiddleston, Kate Fahy and Amy Lloyd – are richly restrained and complex, revealing verities in the mundane.
Having paid her dues in mainstream television, as film director Hogg is compellingly fresh in her mise en scene. The camera is ‘pitched’, and remains unmoving as characters wander into – and out of – shot. With the camera as voyeur, much takes place tantalisingly just out of shot. Some of the most revealing developments are seen and not heard, while other scenes feel inconsequential as Hogg adds layer upon layer to her characters. Interiors are rigorously unlit, filmed only in available light, while the naturalism of the performances allows for excruciatingly awkward pauses in the fractured dialogue. Allow yourself to relax into the vocabulary of the film and you will find it the work of a wonderfully mature and original film maker!
We are very pleased that Joanna Hogg will be joining us after the screening on the 26th. We can think of no better subject for April’s Film Club; we hope you’ll agree.
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