45 Years stars Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay. 45 Years is about a married couple whose marriage is rocked by sudden news about an old girlfriend. Rampling has been an amazing, fearless and daring actor for fifty-two years, but I did not see 45 Years in theaters despite being a fan.
Rampling made some tone-deaf remarks about the ‪#‎OscarsSoWhite‬ campaign. I have not watched the Oscars since the Academy failed to nominate 25th Hour, one of the best American films made after 9/11. Rampling said, “It is racist to whites. One can never really know, but perhaps the black actors did not deserve to make the final list.” Well, after over five decades of excellence, I hope that she continued to apply that logic to herself as a first-time Oscar nominee and thought that she didn’t deserve that Oscar and needs to learn from relative newcomer Brie Larson. Rampling and many others revealed that they no longer need my money with their remarks.
45 Years is an incredibly French film. I thought that the big reveal was that the husband killed his old girlfriend, but I was completely wrong in my American sensationalist interpretation of the preview. 45 Years is a European take on Stephen King’s A Good Marriage or an ordinary ghost story without the murder or supernatural presence. From the opening credits with the slide show sounds to the dog acting the hell out of every moment, particularly when barking at the attic, 45 Years demands that an alert viewer gives his or her complete attention to whatever screen that you decide to view it on. Make sure that you are well rested otherwise the deliberate pacing may make you prone to nodding off, and you may miss some remarkable moments. The music is brilliantly placed. The camera work is counter-intuitive and rigorously stays on Rampling’s face even when traditionally the camera should shift to the other person speaking or moving. The camera lingers long after it is comfortable for the viewer to stay, and Rampling is more than ready for her close up as every emotion soundlessly plays on her face. Rampling’s performance is a master class in acting.
45 Years is an incredibly subtle and sophisticated story that examines the complexities of human emotion, time and the effect of the past on the present. The wife reexamines every moment of her life with her husband after the revelation.
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
Katya, the husband’s girlfriend died in a hiking accident, was pregnant at the time and pretended to be married to him. He reveals that if Katya had not died, he would have married her. Katya is like Sleeping Beauty or Snow White-eternally beautiful and loved whereas the wife has aged and was never loved as much as her predecessor, but she had no idea. She feels stupid for not seeing all the signs that her husband was pining for Katya, feels cheated for making certain decisions with her husband that were influenced by his past (not having children, getting German shepherd dogs, etc.) and is furious that she received less love than she gave. Katya is not the other woman. The wife is.
The heart attack that prevented a celebration of their 40th anniversary may have been a result of his heartache, but the wife’s need to have a party though she hates them indicates that she felt the need to prove something to herself and has failed. Throughout 45 Years, the husband takes action for the deceased Katya that he never did for his wife. When she pulls away from her husband and seems grief-stricken during their anniversary dance, it maybe irrational, but she knows it is over. I don’t think there will be a 46th year anniversary.