45 years

Director: andrew haigh

Actor: charlotte rampling,tom courtenay,geraldine james,dolly wells

Data Published: Fri May 29 2015

Genres: Drama,Romance

Key Words: anniversary,death of girlfriend,dancing,memory,speech

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3544082/

WIKI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/45_Years

Description: 45 Years is a movie starring Charlotte Rampling, Tom Courtenay, and Geraldine James. A married couple preparing to celebrate their wedding anniversary receives shattering news that promises to forever change the course of their...

Plot: The film takes place across six days, marked by intertitles. Five years after retirees Kate and Geoff Mercer had to cancel their 40th wedding anniversary because of his heart bypass surgery, the comfortably-off, childless Norfolk couple are preparing to celebrate their 45th anniversary with dozens of friends at the Assembly House in Norwich. A week before the anniversary party, they gently discuss the music that will be played. The first song from their wedding 45 years ago is their choice for the opening dance again — this is a song that Geoff has always liked. Their morning is somewhat disturbed when Geoff opens a letter from Switzerland telling him that the body of Katya, his German lover in the early 1960s, has become visible in a melting glacier where she fell into a crevasse on their hike with a guide over five decades ago. Memories rush back to him and he realizes he has forgotten much of what little German he used to know and that he would need a dictionary to fully understand all that the letter says. Kate has been told about Katya previously by Geoff and seems initially unconcerned by his controlled disquiet. But gradually, Geoff's conduct begins to show that there is more on his mind than he says. Among other things, he tries to keep from Kate that he is beginning to take steps to fly to Switzerland without her to see Katya's body, which he imagines preserved in the now-transparent ice, still looking youthful. Prompted by Kate, Geoff talks about his relationship with Katya and thoughts evoked by the discovery of her body. He tells Kate that he and Katya had pretended to be married in order to be able to share a room in the more puritanical early 1960s. Because of this, the Swiss authorities consider him to be Katya's next of kin. Kate asks if they planned to be married and Geoff states confidently that they would have. While Kate is troubled by the revelation, she tells him: "I can hardly be cross about something that happened before we even existed... still..." As the days pass and preparations for the party continue, Geoff continues to be moody and takes up smoking, which both had given up in the past. One night, Geoff climbs into the attic to look at his memorabilia of Katya and only reluctantly shows Kate a picture of Katya, when she angrily insists. Kate notices that in addition to their similar names, Katya appears to look much like Kate did when she was young, with the same dark hair. Kate starts to ponder all of her life with Geoff and their possible rebound relationship, and even begins "to smell Katya's perfume" in every room. While Geoff is out at a reunion luncheon at his former workplace, Kate climbs the ladder to the attic to seek what he might be keeping there. She finds Geoff's scrapbook filled with memorabilia from his time with Katya, including pressed violets from their last hike. She finds a carousel slide projector, loaded with images of Switzerland and Katya, next to a makeshift screen to view them. Kate is shocked to see slides showing Katya with her hand on top of the curve of her abdomen: Katya was pregnant at the time of her death. Kate also takes up smoking again and, upon learning of his visit to the local travel agency to inquire about trips to Switzerland, confronts Geoff about his recent behavior related to Katya, without revealing what she saw in the attic. She says that she now believes that many of their decisions as a couple, including their many German Shepherds (and implicitly not having children), were influenced by Katya. Geoff promises that their marriage will "start again," which the next morning he marks by serving her tea in bed and making breakfast for her. They attend their anniversary party in the historic Grand Hall. Kate is constrained, distracted, and remains impassive during Geoff's speech in which he professes his love for Kate, while saying "the choices we make in our youth are most important". He brings himself to tears during the extremely personal and emotional speech, just as Kate's friend Lena has predicted men always do at weddings and anniversaries. Kate seems fleetingly heartened by the conclusion of his speech. The first dance is announced, which is to be the same first song from their wedding, "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" by The Platters. As Geoff and Kate slow dance, she becomes increasingly awkward and rigid, while he becomes silly and playful. She realises that the true significance of the song is not about being lost in love "when your heart is on fire", but "when a lovely flame dies / smoke gets in your eyes". As the song ends, Geoff raises their hands together in the air as the party guests cheer, but Kate yanks her arm down. Geoff, apparently oblivious, dances away. The final close-up isolates Kate amid the mass of people on the dance floor as mixed emotions play across her face.