One of the pleasures of film-going is the chance to discover and savor filmmakers whose creative output is deeply personal and challenging to the willing viewer. But not all such moviemakers are young and unproven. Take for example Joanna Hogg, a British writer-director who previously had helmed experimental super-8 films, music videos, and episodes of TV series. Hogg was in her late forties when she directed UNRELATED, her first theatrical feature. UNRELATED dates from 2007. She has since made two additional features: ARCHIPELAGO, released in 2010; and EXHIBITION, from 2013. All enjoyed theatrical play in the U.S. earlier this year, and Kino Lorber has just released them to DVD.
With the exception of Tom Hiddleston, who appears in all three, these films feature actors who are not name performers. Nor are they “pretty faces.” Instead, they look like average folk: your next door neighbor perhaps, or even you. As befits Hogg’s age, many of her characters are well into middle-age, but their lives are anything but settled and they deal with issues that are special to those who are well-past their formative years but not quite on the abyss of old age.
UNRELATED is the story of a woman who joins her friends on a holiday. At the outset, she arrives at their house after dark and she is seen walking by herself along a deserted road. This symbolizes her sense of isolation and her disconnect from her husband-- who has not accompanied her-- and her friends. Instead, she begins hanging out with some teenagers. Is she somehow trying to recapture her youth? Is she refusing to acknowledge her advancing age? Or is there something else at work here? EXHIBITION, meanwhile, centers on a long-married couple, both of whom are artists. They have been residing in the same London house for many years. This abode is filled with happy memories, but the time has come for them to sell the house and re-settle elsewhere.
ARCHIPELAGO is the one film that depicts younger and older adults in equal measure. It spotlights a family gathering in honor of a twenty-something who is about to head off to do volunteer work in Africa. His mother is smiling and supportive. His sister is hostile and endlessly complaining. Tellingly, his father is nowhere in sight. Also on the scene is a philosophical painter who has devoted his life to his art. At one point, he offers an observation that is key to living a productive life. To paraphrase, he declares: As you get older, you realize that being tough is remaining devoted to your cause and believing that what is inside you is what really is important. Notwithstanding, his presence allows Hogg to explore issues that are specific to those who live their lives through their art. She asks: Do artists pay a price for their devotion to creativity? If they commit themselves to their art, are they missing something-- and specifically, are they missing the challenges and joys of family life?
At their best, UNRELATED, EXHIBITION, and ARCHIPELAGO are quietly powerful films that are minimalist in nature and that deal with deep emotion. They feature long silences, which serve to emphasize their characters’ isolation. There is overlapping dialogue, which seems more improvised than memorized. And beyond the specific issues each character faces, the events in their lives are presented in an unhurried, natural sort of way. They deal with the challenges of long-term relationships, the ways in which individuals evolve across time, what happens when they are at the crossroads of their lives and the inevitability of change in their lives. Many of her characters are incapable of articulating their feelings and the reasons why they believe they are “on the periphery of things,” as one of them observes.
Joanna Hogg’s films are like pieces of art. You observe them in the same way that you might observe and ponder a painting on a wall. These are serious movies, for serious moviegoers.
Rob Edelman teaches film history at the University at Albany. He has written several books on film and television, and is an associate editor of Leonard Maltin’s Movie and Video Guide.
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