The Souvenir Part II

Waste of celluloid. One of, no, the most boring film I've ever seen. Well I didn't see it all because I couldn't put myself through it.

Tedious beyond belief. I just didn't care about these overprivileged characters. Was the narrative drive the production of the script? Not such an interesting process as the filmmaker seems think tooo meta

The story begun in The Souvenir continues. With Her addict boyfriend dead from an overdose, the protagonist finishes film school & makes a film about their relationship. Years later she is shown happy & making music videos. Truly a film within a film.

Well, after part I, I'm obviously desperate to watch this - I'd say the only way is up, but I'm not sure I really believe that. Let's just hope it isn't any worse, eh? Interestingly it starts at pretty much exactly the point that the last film ends which I wasn't expecting - and I think I'm safe telling you that was the death of Anthony, Julie's (Honor Swinton Byrne) dodgy geezer lover. And it pretty much continues in the same vein as the first film, but she is less brooding and more of her own person in this film. It all then gets extremely meta as she continues her work at film school and decides to make a film about her relationship - which means that this is a film about making a film about the relationship which the last film was about. Overall, it's a very similar style of film to the previous one, but I did prefer this one (I'm not saying I loved it though!). In some ways it's a less interesting film because of the absence of Anthony who, despite his faults, was an interesting character but he did somewhat overwhelm the emotional drama of the last film. His absence enables this one to be a bit more nuanced and Julie gets to do more what she wants to do - although it's not all that clear that she really knows what that is a lot of the time (and there's a good thirty minutes in the middle where she patently doesn't have a clue). Overall, she does generally make more progress though so I found it more engaging and definitely less of a struggle than the last film - but everyone is still so earnest! Once again, the film feels a lot like therapy for Joanna - although at least in this one she has the chance to show that she has made it out the other side. As with the last one, she's very much not afraid to show her faults - it's awkward at times but you can't fault her honesty. And, intriguingly, it's the second film in a row that I watched that ended with us cutting away from the scene to show us the sound stage (and it actually made more sense here than it did in the other one). Honor delivers a similar performance to last time, but she does have more to work with this time. We actually get to see more of her student friends this time as well (because she actually spends some time at college) - Jaygann Ayeh, Ariane Labed, Harris Dickinson and Joe Alwyn are all watchable. Richard Ayaode is back with some terrible hair as a character with the same name as in the last film, but I'm really not sure if he's the same person (and also don't really care). And we get to see Tilda for the third film in a row - she actually seems pretty normal in this (and you'd really hope she'd be able to act at being Honor's mum). But she's only in two films from this year so she's going to be beaten by Tom Burke who appears in this (very briefly) to give him his second appearance on the list and we'll be seeing him again VERY soon. I didn't love this, but I definitely preferred it to part I - but unfortunately I don't think there's any point in watching this unless you've previously endured that. So if you've watched the first one and found it bearable, then I think you should probably give this a go to complete the journey (it's available to stream on MUBI or to rent in all the usual places) - otherwise you're absolutely fine skipping them both.

Finally RT has figured out how to get the fans to like a Joanna Hogg film. Make up something called verified ratings which means essentially they align with the critics numbers. No idea how to be verified and even the workers at this place don't know, but I digress. The real people of the world still don't like Hogg's work. That being said, this is her best feature thanks in gigantic part to the ability of Honor Swinton Byrne. Hogg's life is a bore and her desire to make herself the hero is questionable. This is the end of our Hogg torture. Leave her films to the critics, just don't expect them to enlighten you with the why these films are great. Solid music, wonderful to look at, nothing on the page until the page overflows doth not a great movie make. Final Score: 5/10

This film was below average 👎

i enjoyed the movie a lot and it's well made. But I don't think it measured up to The Souvenir part 1. I kept thinking about Irma Vep, a masterpiece about film making on HBO. It's not close to that.

I was looking forward to the follow-up to the original, which I liked. The main character is now a prospective filmmaker who is clearly over her head, with no discernable talent and an apparent inability to function socially or artistically. She works out her emotional issues by making a movie, as does director Hogg evidently. Julie fails to generate much sympathy, though plenty of pity. The best performances are from the secondary actors and the denouement reminded me of a weak imitation of La La Land, All That Jazz, and countless other, better films.

A beautiful ode to the cinema as a form of art. Tender, caring and sensitive.

This is an outstanding film all on its own, and it is certainly among the great sequels in the annals of cinema drama. Hogg, her crew, and the cast bring this story, with all its weight, complexities and nuances, to life in ways that show they are comfortable in returning to this story and these people whom they must feel they know better now. Honor Swinton Byrne is a skilled actor already, and one I so look forward to watching, hopefully, in the future. The character of Julie is growing, gaining strength and bits of wisdom along the journey of the two films. Byrne plays her in a way brings a fully dimensional figure to the screen, from her intellect and expressions of emotion, down to her unique taste in fashion and her changing hair styles. The film-within-a-film, or 'films about making films' element here is quite apparent. We see again the use of static cameras, just as Julie (an extension of director Joanna Hogg herself) clashing with her DP over her desire to use a static camera in her film school project. The final scene and last shot being this full circle in a way. And the acting is again, as in the first film, fantastic. Byrne, Ashworth, Ayeh are especially good. Richard Ayoade has a couple of standout moments, his last scene most of all. Onwards. Now a few words about the ever-brilliant presence that is Tilda Swinton. This is an artist of the finest, rarefied kind. She's equally compelling as a control freak; a scary power-mad figure; an elusive, ethereal persona; or a mother full of motherly love, understated expression, and subtle gestures. Great use of music here again, with "Is That All There Is" mixed with Nico's "Sixty/Forty", Jesus and Mary Chain, Mick Ronson's "Slaughter On Tenth Avenue (Yes, really!), Wire, Small Faces, Talk Talk, Eurythmics, Anna Calvi. Is that all there is, indeed? 4 stars