Directors: Neil Hunter,
Tom Hollander
Country: UK
Year: 2001
Runtime: 99 minutes
English
Awards: Locarno International Film Festival - C.I.C.A.E. Award, Don Quixote Award - Special Mention, Youth Jury Award - Special Mention
It begins with a funeral, but Neil Hunter and Tom Hunsinger's marvelous second feature is no dour affair; indeed, within seconds, as Bill Nighy copes clumsily with having to converse with a French woman he's clearly attracted to, you'll most likely be laughing at the all-too-familiar Englishness on view. Not that it's an out-and-out comedy, either; rather, as it juxtaposes, in three sequential sections, the stories of three of the mourners - the dead man's brother-in-law, his lover and his long-lost best friend - the film ranges through a variety of moods as it charts how the three men, their families, friends and lovers, are changed (or not) by unexpected death. Just in terms of narrative, it would impress for the expert interweaving (think Mystery Train or Pulp Fiction ) of different strands; its sense of place, too - the small towns and farmlands near the flat saltmarshes of the Essex coast - is strong, assured and spot-on. But what really raises it above most recent British fare is its emotional richness and authenticity the characters and their lives are beautifully, at times horribly, real. Terrific. (Synopsis by The Regus London Film Festival)
Screenwriter: Neil Hunter, Tom Hollander
Principal Cast: Bill Nighy, Clementine Celane, Douglas Henshall