by Sarah Cope

A new Mike Leigh film is always an exciting prospect, and Another Year is perhaps one of his finest works yet. It features many of his usual actors (Imelda Staunton, Ruth Sheen , Philip Davis), but it is Lesley Manville, who has featured in many of Leigh’s previous films, who this film really belongs to. Her portrayal of the nervy, desperate Mary completely overshadows the rest of the characters, but perhaps this is not entirely accidental.

Middle-aged, happily married couple Tom (Jim Broadbent) and Gerri (Ruth Sheen) are the nucleus around whom the film is built, but their very stable, unremarkable life makes them less interesting than their unstable, unhappy friends. Their home, which is itself almost a character in the film, is a port in a storm for the lovelorn and the bereaved.

In a deeply disquieting scene, Lesley Manville’s Mary flirts outrageously with Tom and Gerri’s 30-year-old son, Joe (Oliver Maltman), who she has known since he was 10. Rather than being embarrassed by her drunken advances, Joe, for reasons unknown, returns the flirtation. The pain and vulnerability in Mary’s eyes, which continually well-up with barely-supressed tears, and which Leigh shrewdly focuses on repeatedly, is almost unbearable to watch as she almost pleads for love.

This is a film which highlights how painful it can be for deeply unhappy people to witness happiness in those around them. When Jo finds a girlfriend, Mary’s reaction is enough to almost finish her friendship with his parents, who she in fact relies upon for support and companionship. Her friendship with Gerri is particularly interesting, with Gerri assuming the role of counsellor, which is in fact her profession. “As long as we’re friends I’ll be all right,” cries Mary, whilst the viewer wonders how mutually satisfying this friendship really is.

The story is told, as the title suggests, over the course of a year, and the cinematography beautifully portrays the changing of the seasons. The scene where four of the men play golf in the summer was gloriously shot, its brightness and colour contrasting greatly with a funeral scene in winter, which almost looked as though it had been filmed in black and white.

There was barely a duff note in the entire film, and with Another Year Leigh may well have reached the high point of what has already been an outstanding career.

On general release.