UKC

Has anybody seen this? I saw it last week and enjoyed but also had a problem with it. Excellently made film, fine acting, subtle vignette of a marriage.
But I couldn't accept the basic premise: after 45 years of basically happy (but childless) marriage a letter arrives for the husband (Tom Courtenay) notifying him that the body of his previous girlfriend/fiancé who fell into a glacier in the Alps has re-emerged. He is understandably a little discombobulated by this news. His wife (Charlotte Rampling) who had barely been aware of this previous relationship apparently feels that their whole 45 years of marriage has therefore been some sort of sham, despite him assuring her that this was not the case.

I simply couldn't accept the idea that the news of previous relationship, of which the other half was long dead,before the couple had ever met, should be regarded as undermining the basis of 45 years of marriage. "Charlotte Rampling's" reaction just seemed self indulgent. Am I missing something?

In reply to Postmanpat:

Not seen the film but heard a review on R4, I think the significant fact was supposed to be that the husband was still named as the deceased 'next of kin' 45 years later. Not sure if that helps to explain the reaction or not

In reply to Postmanpat:

Completely agree it was my first thought and seemed a nonsense. Won't be viewing.

In reply to GravitySucks:


Not really. He explains that he was recorded as that because they had pretended to be married at the time in order to stay at hotels which seems and seemed reasonable to me.
(That is apparent within the first ten minutes of the film so it's not a "spoiler")

In reply to Postmanpat:

Not seen it, but the fact that people aren't rational and don't behave rationally would seem a reasonable explanation. People can be amazingly fragile in relationships sometimes, even long established happy relationships. I don't know how well the film explores this, but I could understanding it being pretty alien if you haven't seen it yourself in real life.

In reply to The New NickB:


Good point. Charlotte Rampling didn't really come over as fragile, not to me anyway.

In reply to Postmanpat:

Let me get this straight.

A wife holds a grudge against a husband for something that happened 45 years ago??

Sounds about right to me!

I'll get me coat.

In reply to mgco3:





Good point