Another Year (film)

Another Year is a 2010 British comedy-drama film written and directed by Mike Leigh and starring Lesley Manville, Jim Broadbent, and Ruth Sheen. It premiered at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival in competition for the Palme d'Or.[4] The film was shown at the 54th London Film Festival before its general British release date on 5 November 2010.[5] At the 83rd Academy Awards, Mike Leigh was nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.[6][7]

Another Year
British cinema poster
Directed byMike Leigh
Produced byGeorgina Lowe
Written byMike Leigh
StarringLesley Manville
Jim Broadbent
Ruth Sheen
Music byGary Yershon
CinematographyDick Pope
Edited byJon Gregory
Production
company
Distributed byMomentum Pictures (UK)
Sony Pictures Classics (US)
Release date
  • 15 May 2010 (2010-05-15) (Cannes)
  • 5 November 2010 (2010-11-05)
Running time
129 minutes[1]
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget$8 million[2]
Box office$18.1 million[3]

Plot

Tom Hepple, a geologist, and Gerri Hepple, a counsellor, are an older married couple who have a comfortable, loving relationship. The film observes them over the course of the four seasons of a year, surrounded by family and friends who mostly suffer some degree of unhappiness. Gerri's friend and colleague, Mary, works as a receptionist at the health centre. She is a middle-aged divorcee seeking a new relationship, and despite telling everyone she is happy, appears desperate and depressed. She often seems to drink too much. The Hepples' only child, Joe, is 30 and unmarried and works as a solicitor giving advice on housing.

In the summer, the Hepples are visited by Ken, Tom's old friend from his student days. Ken is overweight, eats, smokes and drinks compulsively and seems very unhappy. Tom and Gerri host a barbecue in Ken's honour. Mary drives her newly bought car to the party, but gets lost and arrives late. Having had some wine, she flirts with Joe, whom she has known since he was little. He remains friendly but does not reciprocate the flirtation. After the party, Mary reluctantly gives Ken a lift to the train station. He makes a clumsy romantic advance and Mary irritably rejects him.

Months later, in the autumn, Mary is once again at Tom and Gerri's home. Joe arrives with a new girlfriend, Katie. Mary appears rude and hostile towards Katie, which is not appreciated by Tom and Gerri. This creates a rift between Gerri and Mary.

In the winter, Tom, Gerri, and Joe attend the funeral for the wife of Tom's brother, Ronnie. Towards the end of the service, Ronnie's estranged son, Carl, arrives, and angrily asks why the ceremony was not delayed for him. At the reception at Ronnie's house, Carl becomes aggressive and walks out. Tom and Gerri invite Ronnie back to London to stay with them for a while and Ronnie agrees.

While Tom and Gerri are at their garden allotment Mary arrives unannounced at their home and persuades Ronnie to let her in. Her car has just been written off and she is upset. The two have a cup of tea and a desultory chat before Mary takes a nap on the settee. When Tom and Gerri return they are unhappy to find Mary at their house. Gerri explains to Mary that she feels let down by her earlier behaviour towards Katie. Mary apologises and weeps. Gerri gradually extends a degree of warmth to Mary, suggesting that she should seek professional help and inviting her to stay for dinner, and the two women set the table. Joe and Katie arrive, their relationship still appearing strong and happy. The Hepples enjoy dinner together. Mary eats with them but appears lost and uncertain.

Cast

Production

Because the director's usual producer Simon Channing-Williams died in 2009, Another Year was produced by Georgina Lowe, who had worked regularly on Mike Leigh films since Naked (1993). Thin Man Films led the production together with television channel Film4 and Focus Features International.[8] The project received £1.2 million from the UK Film Council.[9] The production involved a budget of around US$8 million, which Leigh said was "the lowest budget I've had for a long time".[2]

Most of Another Year's key cast members had already worked with the director multiple times. Leigh collaborated with the actors for five months to create their characters and world and to do research. The director employed his usual technique: the actors improvise extensively during rehearsals, and the result of those improvisations becomes the basis of the final script. Principal photography took 12 weeks. To simulate the four seasons of a year, cinematographer Dick Pope used four different film stocks, and much attention was paid to details in the props so that the passage of time would appear believable.[2]

The location used for Tom and Gerri Hepple's house is St Margaret's Road, Wanstead, East London.[10]

Reception

Another Year has a score of 80/100 on Metacritic based on 35 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[11] On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 92% based on 173 reviews, with an average rating of 8.16. The website's critical consensus reads, "Characterized by strong performances and the director's trademark feel for the nuances of everyday life, Another Year marks another solid entry in Mike Leigh's career of kitchen-sink English drama."[12] The film debuted at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival in competition for the Palme d'Or and although it failed to receive any prizes, it was highly praised by critics,[13][14][15] scoring a 3.4/4 average at Screen International's annual Cannes Jury Grid, which polls international film critics from publications such as Sight & Sound, The Australian, Positif, L'Unità and Der Tagesspiegel.[16]

Wendy Ide of The Times described the film as "Leigh at his confident best" and "a disarmingly humane work", writing, "Mike Leigh shows admirable restraint: there are no manufactured crescendos, just a melancholy refrain that builds to its raw realisation in an achingly sad final shot."[17] Xan Brooks of The Guardian described Another Year as "a rare treat",[18] and Geoffrey Macnab of The Independent described the film as "an acutely well-observed study of needy and unhappy people desperately trying to make sense of their lives."[19]

Keith Uhlich of Time Out New York named Another Year the eighth-best film of 2010.[20]

Accolades
Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result
Academy Awards[21] 27 February 2011 Best Original Screenplay Mike Leigh Nominated
Belgian Syndicate of Cinema Critics[22] 8 January 2011 Grand Prix Nominated
British Academy Film Awards[23] 21 February 2011 Best Supporting Actress Lesley Manville Nominated
Best British Film Nominated
British Independent Film Awards[24] 5 December 2010 Best Director Mike Leigh Nominated
Best Actress Ruth Sheen Nominated
Best Actor Jim Broadbent Nominated
Best Supporting Actress Lesley Manville Nominated
Cannes Film Festival[25] 23 May 2010 Palme d'Or Nominated
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards[26] 20 December 2010 Best Actress Lesley Manville Nominated
European Film Awards[27] 4 December 2010 Best Actress Lesley Manville Nominated
Best European Composer Gary Yershon Nominated
London Film Critics Circle Awards[28] 10 February 2011 Best British Actor Jim Broadbent Runner-up
Best British Actress Lesley Manville Won
Best British Actress Ruth Sheen Nominated
Best British Director Mike Leigh Runner-up
Best British Film Runner-up
Best British Supporting Actor David Bradley Runner-up
Best British Supporting Actor Peter Wight Nominated
London Film Festival Awards[29] 27 October 2010 Best Film Nominated
National Board of Review Awards[30] 2 December 2010 Top Ten Film Won
Best Actress Lesley Manville Won
San Diego Film Critics Society Awards[31] 14 December 2010 Best Supporting Actress Lesley Manville Won
Best Ensemble Cast Nominated
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards[32] 6 December 2010 Best Original Screenplay Mike Leigh Nominated
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References
  1. "ANOTHER YEAR (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 26 August 2010. Retrieved 6 July 2013.
  2. Grove, Martin A. (31 December 2010). "Another Year, Another Oscar Nom? Mike Leigh Will Wait and See". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 1 January 2011.
  3. "Another Year (2010)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
  4. "Hollywood Reporter: Cannes Lineup". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 22 April 2010. Retrieved 15 April 2010.
  5. Sztypuljak, Dave (9 September 2010). "New Trailer and Images from Mike Leigh's Another Year". HeyUGuys.co.uk. Retrieved 9 September 2010.
  6. David Seidler winning Best Original Screenplay for "The King's Speech"-Oscars on YouTube
  7. 2011|Oscars.org
  8. Macnab, Geoffrey (6 May 2010). "Georgina Lowe, producer". Screen. Archived from the original on 29 May 2010. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
  9. "Films in production and development awarded funding from the UK Film Council". UK Film Council. 23 February 2010. Archived from the original on 1 March 2010. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
  10. See Wanstead on film Archived 26 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine Derek Punsalan, Wansteadium, 5-11-2010. Accessed July 2011.
  11. Another Year, retrieved 20 February 2020
  12. "Another Year Movie Reviews, Pictures". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
  13. O'Hehir, Andrew (17 May 2010). "Best of Cannes: Another Year with Mike Leigh". Salon.com. Archived from the original on 23 January 2011. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
  14. Frosch, Jon (15 May 2010). "Mike Leigh's Another Year an early festival high point". France 24. Archived from the original on 6 February 2011. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
  15. Jones, Emma (19 May 2010). "Another Cannes, another Mike Leigh classic". BBC News. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
  16. "Cannes Jury Grid 2010" (pdf). Screen International. 27 May 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
  17. Ide, Wendy (17 May 2010). "Another Year at the Cannes Film Festival". The Times. London. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
  18. Brooks, Xan (17 May 2010). "Cannes film festival diary: Another Year, a rare treat". guardian.co.uk. London. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
  19. Macnab, Geoffrey (17 May 2010). "Another Year, Cannes Film Festival". The Independent. London. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
  20. Uhlich, Keith (21 December 2010). "Best (and Worst) of 2010". Time Out New York. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
  21. "Nominees for the 83rd Academy Awards". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on 25 January 2011. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
  22. ""A Single Man" de Tom Ford, grand prix UCC 2011". La Libre Belgique (in French). 10 January 2011. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
  23. "Past Winners and Nominees - Film". British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
  24. "The Moët British Independent Film Awards Announce Nominations and Jury for 13th Edition". British Independent Film Awards. Archived from the original on 4 November 2010. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
  25. "Official Selection 2010". Cannes Film Festival. Archived from the original on 3 October 2009. Retrieved 24 May 2010.
  26. "Chicago Film Critics Awards - 2008-2010". Chicago Film Critics Association. Archived from the original on 24 February 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2010.
  27. "Nominations for the 23rd European Film Awards". EFA. Archived from the original on 11 November 2010. Retrieved 13 November 2010.
  28. Ng, Philiana (20 December 2010). "The King's Speech, Another Year Lead Nominations at London Critics' Circle Film Awards". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
  29. "2010 Awards Shortlists". London Film Festival Awards. Archived from the original on 3 November 2010. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
  30. "David Fincher's THE SOCIAL NETWORK Tops National Board of Review Awards 2010". ALT Film Guide. Archived from the original on 3 December 2010. Retrieved 2 December 2010.
  31. "2010 Awards". San Diego Film Critics Society. Archived from the original on 11 September 2013. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
  32. "The 2010 WAFCA Award Winners". Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
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