Here is not a blockbuster but there is something gentle in its meditation on mundanity and mortality, the unspectacular, but not unimportant, lives that most of us lead. Source: Australian Catholics.
The film is based on a 2014 graphic novel by Richard McGuire and much has been made of the pairing of Tom Hanks and Robin Wright, 30 years after their acting together in Forrest Gump. We see them age from 18 to 80 and the use of artificial intelligence/deep fakes to de-age them is interesting. Wright as an 18-year-old appears more like a 30-year-old and both have a smoothness to their faces which is not quite human. But that is being picky and I admire the concept of using one actor ageing across a lifetime rather than the usual convention of different actors for different time frames.
Essentially, this film tells the story of the occupants of a home built in 1900 over the course of a century. The living room is where the action happens and we see the changes in fashion, popular culture and family life over these years. The film centres around the Young family; Al (Bettany), the father, a WWII veteran and unhappy salesman, his wife, Rose (Reilly), the 1950s homemaker, and their three children. Richard, (Hanks), the oldest son, brings home Margaret (Wright), his high school sweetheart. She becomes pregnant at 18 and he does the decent thing and marries her. On the black and white TV Ed Sullivan introduces the Beatles singing All My Loving as they tie the knot. Richard has dreams of being an artist and Margaret dreams of doing law, but the pressures of a young family means that these dreams do not take seed.
The film centres on place – Here – and what happens on that spot over eons.
The minutiae of family life is dissected as director Robert Zemeckis uses close-ups as well as panels on the screen to transition from scene to scene. This meant a bit of looking closely as two things were happening at once, however, for me, this was not too jarring, although it might affect some viewers’ enjoyment.
This film interrogates the ordinary but crucial familial networks, decisions, opportunities taken or not, that make our lives what they are. Something to be celebrated.
A lovely film in a minor key.
Review: Ann Rennie
Here: Starring Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Paul Bettany, Kelly Reilly, Gwilym Lee, Nicholas Pinnock, Michelle Dockery, Ophelia Lovibond, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Cache Vanderpuye. Director: Robert Zemeckis. Running time: 104 minutes. Rating: PG
FULL REVIEW
Here (Australian Catholics)
