Archipelago (2010)
Directed by: Joanna
Hogg.
Written by: Joanna Hogg.
Starring: Christopher Baker
(Christopher), Kate Fahy (Patricia), Tom Hiddleston (Edward), Lydia Leonard
(Cynthia), Amy Lloyd (Rose).
In Joanna
Hogg’s first film, Unrelated, she focused on a large family vacation of an
extended upper middle class English family in Italy, and the various problems
that arose when an outsider – a friend of the “olds” came along, and was more
drawn to the young people. In her second feature, Archipelago, she is once
again focusing an upper-middle class English family on vacation – but this
time, it is much more tightly focused – just a mother and her two adult
children, a family friend who is a painter, and the cook they hire to spend two
weeks with them. Once again, it is a family that on the surface, seems to be
okay – they are polite to each other of course, although they don’t talk too
much. They are there, at a place they used to go when the children were
smaller, because the son – Edward (Tom Hiddleston) is going to Africa for a
year. They are waiting for their father who arrive – who like the husband of
the main character in Unrelated, we never see, but we do overhear numerous
phone calls from the other side, that get increasingly intense. And like in
Unrelated, there is a long sequence where two characters’ scream at each other
– the tension finally boiling over – but we are not in the room with them when
it happens, instead we are with the other characters, who have to awkwardly sit
in another room and hear the fight.
So, yes,
it is clear that the first two films in Hogg’s filmography have many
similarities – almost as if she wanted to refine her template with her second
film that she used in the first. And yet, while there are a lot of similarities,
they are not carbon copies of each other either. The family dynamics here are
different – the children are a little older, living their own lives, even if
they are still messed up. An element of class has been introduced by
introducing Rose (Amy Lloyd) – the cook – who Edward bends over backwards to be
nice to – even flirting with her a little – while the sister Cynthia (Lydia Leonard)
barely acknowledges her, and the mother, Patricia (Kate Fahy) tries to keep the
peace between them.
Hogg also
has refined her style here – in both films, she favors long takes, particularly
during the dialogue scenes around a table when the eat – which simply increases
the tension and awkwardness. There is a brilliant sequence when they all go to
a restaurant, where first the sit around and debate what table they should sit,
and in what configuration – and once that is finally decided, and their food
arrives, and Cynthia spends a few minutes complaining about it, then talking
the waitress, and finally talking to the chef, as everyone else is fairly quiet.
It’s a masterclass in screenwriting and acting – the humor of them discussing
where to sit, moves into tension and awkwardness. It is really the centerpiece
of the entire movie – laying out precisely who everyone is, and how they relate
to each other. It’s the best thing Hogg had done to this point.
In
Hiddleston, Hogg also found a perfect actor for her films. For those who know
him only as Loki, seeing him in Unrelated and then Archipelago really is a
revelation. In both he is a product of privilege – someone who trading water a
little bit, not knowing what to do. In Unrelated, it makes sense – he’s in his
early 20s, and still drifting. In Archipelago, he is older (more than the 3
years that passed between the two films) – and it’s starting to be kind of
pathetic. He is averse to conflict – he runs away from it, and spends time by
himself. He overanalyzes his every move. He won’t stand up for himself. And
now, he’s head to Africa, even though it’s clear he has no real desire to do
so. His mother loves him, but doesn’t know what to say. And Cynthia is perhaps
the most interesting character here – in large part because we don’t spend as
much with her, and she is clearly holding back for much of the movie – never
letting all that anger out, until, of course, she does.
I think Archipelago
is a better film that Unrelated – it’s a more confident film, and the set
pieces are even better. And she never really does what the scene in the hotel
room in Unrelated – where the main character needlessly spells everything out.
Here, you still get it all, you just have to intuit it. It is a film that
rewards close attention – and confirmed just how good Hogg was as a writer and
director.
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