Charlotte Rampling's Oscar-nominated performance in 45 Years can now be savoured by New Zealand audiences.
The film has just opened here and it's a chance for film fans to watch a masterclass in acting.
In the film, Kate and Geoff have been married, happily, for 45 years.
As they prepare to celebrate their anniversary with a big party in the village, Geoff gets a letter.
The contents of that letter and its impact will slowly, inexorably, seep into their relationship, playing out in the most familiar and more intimate of ways.
Rampling is total class, the gentle ebb and flow of her emotions becomes more tumultuous, yet conveyed in the most contained of ways adding an enormous heft to her delivery, and our experience.
Tom Courtney too is a wonderful foil for his co-star, their relationship so full of the mundane minutia of marriage mined so compelling for the big screen.
Rampling in her prime and so deserving of her Oscar nomination, watching her unravel almost imperceptibly, elegantly, heartbreakingly, is a masterclass.
It was so refreshing to be treated like an adult, asked to invest, to read between the lines, the looks, to get under her skin and I was so richly rewarded for doing so.
Four-and-a-half stars.
45 Years:: Director: Andrew Haigh:: Starring: Charlotte Rampling, Tom Courtenay, Geraldine James, Dolly Wells, David Sibley, Sam Alexander, Richard Cunningham, Hannah Chalmers:: Rating: M - Sex scenes and offensive language:: Running Time: 94 minutes:: Release Date: March 17, 2016
Newshub.
