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Wetherby
This fascinating little drama starts with a bang but ends up concerning itself with subtle intangibles in human relationships. David Hare's masterfully-directed screenplay examines modern despair and personal disquietude more effectively than a dozen art films about alienation. The remarkable cast includes Judi Dench and Ian Holm, great actors who would reach their heights of fame later on in their careers. The underused Vanessa Redgrave shares a role (across a 30 year gap in time) with her own daughter, Joely Richardson.
Weatherby looks at a placid Yorkshire town and finds not a Peyton Place of scandal but a more credible center of unease and disappointment. The carefully modulated screenplay starts with people expressing their acute sense of powerlessness by remarking on how Margaret Thatcher is ruining the country. Roger and Verity Braithwaite (Tom Wilkinson and Marjorie Yates) turn a simple discussion into an argument, and Stanley and Marcia Pilborough (Ian Holm and Judi Dench) avoid interaction by retreating into forced attitudes or strong drink. Only the single Jean Travers seems a pillar of inner strength, an illusion forced to the surface by a meaningless violent incident.
The strength of the show is that the behaviors of its characters are so interesting, we don't mind that the loose ends of the mystery do not neatly resolve themselves. Learning more about these people is reward enough. The proceedings also never become maudlin or depressing. Through flashbacks, we learn about Jean's youthful romance with a young soldier (where she's played with equal clarity by Joely Richardson) and also about hidden details of Jean's one encounter with John Morgan before his suicide.
Weatherby makes no distinction in age or social class for its portrait of modern alienation. The honest policeman Langdon doesn't fit in with the rowdy office games of his station mates. Librarian Marcia Pilborough seeks solace in feigned cheerfulness and seems to enjoy being a bureaucratic obstruction to patrons unfamiliar with library rules. Her lawyer-husband Stanley is acutely aware of the emptiness in his life. All of these people are able to connect with Jean, who is revealed to be just as emotionally wounded.
The surprise is that the 'younger generation' has reached the same dead-end much more quickly. One of Jean's students is disenchanted with school and education, and after Jean is unable to provide reassurance leaves for London in hope of a better life. John Morgan's soul-sickness is a much more serious problem. The disturbed man seeks honesty and truth from women but mostly stalks and harasses them, as if he were owed reciprocation to his overtures. The previous subject of his attention, Karen Creasy, is equally unstable: Overreacting to Morgan's emotional demands, she becomes hostile when anyone gets too close.
Director Hare reveals much more detail with his carefully paced script. We're always attentive and each scene rewards us with a new puzzle piece. The film makes a big distinction between the freshness (ignorance?) of young love and the later onset of emotional desperation. Weatherby is about human isolation and maladjustment, yet its characters are hopeful.
The timeframe of the film is somewhat confusing. Jean is only 50-something, which would make her between four and eight years old during WW2. The young lovers talk about seeing The Third Man, a picture from four years after the war. Yet the young man is going off to be stationed in Malaya. Either the critics have something confused, or David Hare is deliberately mixing up dates in the same way Stanley and Marcia Pilborough say people can't even remember who Nixon was, ten years after his resignation.
Home Vision's DVD of Weatherby is a fine enhanced transfer with rich color. The mono track bursts to life with Nick Bricat and Tony Britten's lush score. A couple of lines are difficult to understand but the audio is clear overall. There are no extras except for some text bios; Brian McFarlane provides a good liner note essay.
On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor, Wetherby rates:
Movie: Excellent
Video: Excellent
Sound: Excellent
Supplements: Director's introduction; essay by Brian McFarlane
Packaging: Keep case
Reviewed: November 18, 2004
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