Charlotte Rampling rightfully earned an Oscar nomination for her performance in this delicate film about a happily-married woman about to celebrate her 45th anniversary, whose marriage and life are potentially upended by some facts that emerge about her husband's past.
Those facts involve a former love who died tragically, which the wife has known about for years. But what she doesn't know, partially because she's never wanted to and partially because her husband hasn't told her everything, is how large a role the woman played and has continued to play in her husband's life. He tells her quite bluntly that if his former love had not died prematurely, he would probably have married her, and Rampling's character is left to wonder if the man with whom she's built her own life belongs completely, or has ever belonged, to her.
Like the best of character studies, "45 Years" doesn't answer questions for us, it merely poses them. These aren't good people or bad people, these are complex people. There are resentments and mistakes, but no villains and heroes. Tom Courtenay, as the husband, delivers as fine a performance as Rampling, and it's a shame he couldn't have also been recognized. The ending scene, set at the anniversary party itself, is a quiet tour de force for them both.
Grade: A
Those facts involve a former love who died tragically, which the wife has known about for years. But what she doesn't know, partially because she's never wanted to and partially because her husband hasn't told her everything, is how large a role the woman played and has continued to play in her husband's life. He tells her quite bluntly that if his former love had not died prematurely, he would probably have married her, and Rampling's character is left to wonder if the man with whom she's built her own life belongs completely, or has ever belonged, to her.
Like the best of character studies, "45 Years" doesn't answer questions for us, it merely poses them. These aren't good people or bad people, these are complex people. There are resentments and mistakes, but no villains and heroes. Tom Courtenay, as the husband, delivers as fine a performance as Rampling, and it's a shame he couldn't have also been recognized. The ending scene, set at the anniversary party itself, is a quiet tour de force for them both.
Grade: A