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Another Year (film)

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Another Year
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMike Leigh
Written byMike Leigh
Produced byGeorgina Lowe
Starring
CinematographyDick Pope
Edited byJon Gregory
Music byGary Yershon
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 15 May 2010 (2010-05-15) (Cannes)
  • 5 November 2010 (2010-11-05) (United Kingdom)
Running time
129 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget$8 million[1]
Box office$20 million[2]

Another Year is a 2010 British comedy-drama film written and directed by Mike Leigh. It stars Jim Broadbent, Lesley Manville, and Ruth Sheen. It follows a year in the life of an older couple who have been happily married for a long time, making them an anomaly among their friends and family members.

The film had its world premiere at the 63rd Cannes Film Festival on 15 May 2010, and was theatrically released in the United Kingdom on 5 November 2010, by Momentum Pictures. It grossed $20 million worldwide and received positive reviews from critics, who praised Leigh's screenplay and the performances of the cast (particularly Manville). It was nominated for Best British Film and Best Actress in a Supporting Role (for Manville) at the 64th British Academy Film Awards, while Leigh earned a Best Original Screenplay nomination at the 83rd Academy Awards. The film was also nominated for Best Actress (for Manville) and Best Composer at the 23rd European Film Awards.

Plot

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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, and seems to drink too much. The Hepples' only child, Joe, is 30 and single 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 his 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. 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 Katie, a new girlfriend. Mary appears rude and hostile towards Katie, which Tom and Gerri don't appreciate, creating 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 wrecked and she is upset. They 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 there. 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 she should seek counseling 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

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Production

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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.[3] The project received £1.2 million from the UK Film Council.[4] The production involved a budget of around US$8 million, which Leigh said was "the lowest budget I've had for a long time".[1]

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.[1]

The location used for Tom and Gerri Hepple's house is St Margaret's Road, Wanstead, East London.[5]

Release

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Another Year premiered at the 63rd Cannes Film Festival on 15 May 2010, where it competed for the Palme d'Or,[6][7][8] and was also screened at the 35th Toronto International Film Festival on 13 September, the 48th New York Film Festival on 5 October, and the 54th BFI London Film Festival on 18 October. The film was then released in the United Kingdom on 5 November 2010, by Momentum Pictures, and in the United States on 29 December 2010, by Sony Pictures Classics.[9]

Reception

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Critical response

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On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 92% of 173 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.2/10. The website's 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."[10] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 81 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[11]

Another Year debuted at Cannes and although it failed to receive any prizes, it was highly praised by critics,[12][13][14] 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, Positif, L'Unità and Der Tagesspiegel.[15]

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."[16] Xan Brooks of The Guardian described Another Year as "a rare treat",[17] 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."[18]

Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "Another Year is about the turning wheel of life, an examination of the pleasures and jealousies, disappointments and insecurities, destroyed dreams and rekindled hopes that make up our daily existence. It may sound commonplace, but in the hands of master filmmaker Mike Leigh, the everyday becomes extraordinary."[19] A. O. Scott of The New York Times called the film "splendidly rich and wise" and opined that "as in its immediate precursor, Happy-Go-Lucky, Mr. Leigh is also after a more elusive and troubling form of injustice."[20] Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post gave the film three out of four stars, and described it as "a joy, albeit one suffused with melancholy - a visually rich, musical, unmannered slice of life that magnifies experience rather than miniaturizing it."[21]

Accolades

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Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result
Academy Awards[22] 27 February 2011 Best Original Screenplay Mike Leigh Nominated
Belgian Syndicate of Cinema Critics[23] 8 January 2011 Grand Prix Nominated
British Academy Film Awards[24] 21 February 2011 Best Supporting Actress Lesley Manville Nominated
Best British Film Nominated
British Independent Film Awards[25] 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[26] 23 May 2010 Palme d'Or Nominated
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards[27] 20 December 2010 Best Actress Lesley Manville Nominated
Chlotrudis Society for Independent Films[28] 21 March 2012 Best Movie Nominated
Best Director Mike Leigh Nominated
Best Supporting Actress Lesley Manville Won
Best Original Screenplay Mike Leigh Nominated
Best Performance by an Ensemble Cast Nominated
European Film Awards[29] 4 December 2010 Best Actress Lesley Manville Nominated
Best European Composer Gary Yershon Nominated
London Film Critics Circle Awards[30] 10 February 2011 Best British Actor Jim Broadbent Runner-up
Best British Actress Lesley Manville Won
Ruth Sheen Nominated
Best British Director Mike Leigh Runner-up
Best British Film Runner-up
Best British Supporting Actor David Bradley Runner-up
Peter Wight Nominated
London Film Festival Awards[31] 27 October 2010 Best Film Nominated
National Board of Review Awards[32] 2 December 2010 Top Ten Film Won
Best Actress Lesley Manville Won
San Diego Film Critics Society Awards[33] 14 December 2010 Best Supporting Actress Lesley Manville Won
Best Ensemble Cast Nominated
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards[34] 6 December 2010 Best Original Screenplay Mike Leigh Nominated

References

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  1. ^ a b c Grove, Martin A. (31 December 2010). "'Another Year,' Another Oscar Nom? Mike Leigh Will Wait and See". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 30 November 2022. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  2. ^ "Another Year". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Archived from the original on 23 May 2023. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  3. ^ Macnab, Geoffrey (6 May 2010). "Georgina Lowe, producer". Screen. Archived from the original on 29 May 2010. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
  4. ^ "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.
  5. ^ "See Wanstead on film". wansteadium.com. 5 November 2010. Archived from the original on 26 February 2011.
  6. ^ Noah, Sherna (15 April 2010). "Mike Leigh film in running for Palme D'Or". The Independent. Archived from the original on 20 December 2023. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  7. ^ Brooks, Xan (17 May 2010). "Cannes film festival diary: Another Year, a rare treat". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 3 January 2024. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  8. ^ Turan, Kenneth (18 May 2010). "Cannes Film Festival: There will never be another Mike Leigh". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 31 January 2023. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  9. ^ "ANOTHER YEAR" (PDF) (Press release). Sony Pictures Classics. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 October 2023. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  10. ^ "Another Year". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Archived from the original on 23 December 2023. Retrieved 8 January 2024. Edit this at Wikidata
  11. ^ "Another Year". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Archived from the original on 27 December 2023. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  12. ^ 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.
  13. ^ 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.
  14. ^ Jones, Emma (19 May 2010). "Another Cannes, another Mike Leigh classic". BBC News. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
  15. ^ "Cannes Jury Grid 2010" (PDF). Screen International. 27 May 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 December 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
  16. ^ Ide, Wendy (17 May 2010). "Another Year at the Cannes Film Festival". The Times. London. Archived from the original on 15 June 2011. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
  17. ^ Brooks, Xan (17 May 2010). "Cannes film festival diary: Another Year, a rare treat". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
  18. ^ Macnab, Geoffrey (17 May 2010). "Another Year, Cannes Film Festival". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
  19. ^ Turan, Kenneth (29 December 2010). "Movie review: 'Another Year'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  20. ^ Scott, A. O. (28 December 2010). "Injustice, British and Otherwise". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 20 November 2023. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  21. ^ Hornaday, Ann (20 January 2011). "A telling portrait of wedded bliss". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 9 November 2015. Retrieved 8 January 2024.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  22. ^ "The 83rd Academy Awards". oscars.org. Archived from the original on 25 January 2011. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
  23. ^ ""A Single Man" de Tom Ford, grand prix UCC 2011". La Libre Belgique (in French). 10 January 2011. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
  24. ^ "Film in 2011". British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  25. ^ "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.
  26. ^ "Official Selection 2010". Cannes Film Festival. Archived from the original on 3 October 2009. Retrieved 24 May 2010.
  27. ^ "Chicago Film Critics Awards – 2008-2010". Chicago Film Critics Association. Archived from the original on 24 February 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2010.
  28. ^ "2012, 18th Annual Awards". Chlotrudis Society for Independent Films. Archived from the original on 13 December 2021. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  29. ^ "Nominations for the 23rd European Film Awards". EFA. Archived from the original on 11 November 2010. Retrieved 13 November 2010.
  30. ^ 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.
  31. ^ "2010 Awards Shortlists". London Film Festival Awards. Archived from the original on 3 November 2010. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
  32. ^ "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.
  33. ^ "2010 Awards". San Diego Film Critics Society. Archived from the original on 11 September 2013. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
  34. ^ "The 2010 WAFCA Award Winners". Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association. 6 December 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
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