The Souvenir

Being co-dependent with a heroin addict is not love. And the protagonist never learns her lesson.

The critics might like it. I didn't.

Hogg isn't playing by the typical rules of a coming of age drama, which makes "The Souvenir" feel more raw and honest than you'd expect.

A very conflicted 3 stars. It's self indulgent, but engaging for other self-indulgents like myself. A plus is Hogg's expressiveness in cinematography and script validation of a privileged, passive, conflicting self-abusive female character who would be completely overlooked in any other context. You will not see a character like this so thoroughly drawn in any other film. It's legitimate to question this focus - until we look at the self obsession and misogyny of the staple of almost all movies available. Her overuse of visual cues (the kissing of her lovers hands, for example) became frustrating in context - but maybe that was the directors point? My main issue was with the ultimate pseudo martyrdom of a narcissistic abusive character for a passive, female foolish one in the end. Multiple times Hogg presents a counterpoint to the passive acceptance of this financial emotional dedication abuse, through the contrasting alive-ness of her hosted parties, in the kind concern of her fellow students - which she carries through right to the end - and in the hints of the friends of her 'boyfriend'. The seeming redemption-martyrdom ending foils it all. She's learnt nothing, she's lost everything, her ego has given in to her sincerity. Ironic then that this is Hogg's most successful mainstream film. Her main character is privileged and wants to acknowledge that, but the film is still about this privileged, self-defeating character... And in her - as what seems to be semi-autobiographical reflection -Hogg seems to want to eat her cake and to have it too.

I've no idea what to expect from this - I have a sneaking suspicion I'm going to roll my eyes at the superficial artiness of it all, but let's see shall we? Hmmm - "superficial artiness" is a bit harsh because it's basically a true story, but it doesn't feel very relatable ("extraordinary and excoriating" is pretty accurate). Julie (Honor Swinton Byrne) is at film school when she starts up a relationship with Anthony, a charming older man (Tom Burke) who turns out to be a bit of a wrong 'un - it takes us about five seconds to realise this, but it obviously took Julie/Joanna considerably longer to cotton on because of her sheltered/privileged upbringing. And basically that's all that happens as we dip into various aspects of Julie's personal, family and school life as the relationship progresses. And well, it's generally all rather dull. I think it's "true to life"ness is part of my problem with it. The detail is well observed, but it's just not of interest. And in the interesting bits, Julie is just so naive and manipulated that I felt very uncomfortable watching it - if only half the details are an accurate portrayal of Joanna Hogg's life then it's certainly a brave choice to put them on screen and I hope she found the process therapeutic. I, on the other hand, did not and spent a lot of the time feeling either uncomfortable or bored. I do think it's well acted, but not really in a style I appreciate. It's the first major role for Honor Swinton Byrne (Tilda Swinton's daughter) and she looks comfortable in front of the camera, even though she's often called upon to look uncomfortable. Tom Burke is also good - Anthony's an interesting character because you just don't know whether you can believe anything he says. There's also a very young looking Richard Ayoade in it - seeming somewhat more natural than he normally does (but the bit he's in is extremely boring!). And the good news is that Tilda actually does some normal acting in this - unlike another of her films I've very recently endured. It also features Tosin Cole (Ryan from Doctor Who) but I totally didn't recognise him! I know there's a phrase for this style of film but I don't know what it is - I'm pretty certain it's not going to be "blurry, 'look at me being true to life' nonsense" though. And yes, I'm being harsh but I really struggled to keep interest in this or to like any of the people in it and it all feels very "art school". I can see the argument that it's a "good" film though - in addition to being well acted it feels very artfully designed (whilst at the same time being true to life) and Joanna Hogg obviously has a good eye for a shot. All in all, this really hasn't put me in the mood for the film I've got to watch next - it was a massive struggle to complete which has taken me about ten sittings over six months. I do hope it worked as therapy for Joanna, because it certainly didn't work as a film for me - it feels like one for the art critics and no-one else. But if you're still determined to watch it after that ringing endorsement, it's available to stream on Netflix or to rent in all the usual other locations.

Genuinely one of the best movies I have ever seen.

This film was good 👍🏼

Notting Hill crossed with Jeanne Dielman, with all the joy of the later and the depth of the former.

Convince me Right Now ..Why this is NOT the best Film I have ever seen ..kid u not ..PERFECTION ..absolute Perfection

This is very much a subtle and arty kind of a film. The scenes move slowly and its mainly a sort of depiction of the main characters sense of personal isolation and their ability to open up to one another, thus its about secrets and trust to a if but small extent. I can certainly understand why some may feel this is a bit bland and dull - its not the sort of film that exactly grabs you visually, its safe to say. This will only really appeal if your ok with dialogue heavy and perhaps introspective type films, I'd have thought. There is a fair bit of talk about film, i.e. film analysis, although its a drama rather than a documentary, of course. I can also see why its regarded by some as rather self indulgent. I thought it was ok, slightly good and perhaps thought provoking but not entirely captivating. Its a thoughtful watch which won't appeal to all but for what it is, its ok.