45 Years

Now in her '70s, Charlotte Rampling has matured into the sort of actress who can hold your attention just by making toast. Which is a skill put to the test in Andrew Haigh's domestic tragedy 45 Years, a film that mines the drama lurking beneath the daily routines of a marriage on the cusp of disintegration after nearly half a century of comfortable mediocrity.

Kate (Rampling) and Geoff (Tom Courtenay) have long since settled into the predictable roles of a retired couple, with Kate mothering her rather irresponsible partner through the challenges of old age. But when a letter arrives informing Geoff about the discovery of the body of his old girlfriend - frozen and completely preserved in glacier after a hiking accident - their relationship begins to fray. The news hits Geoff harder than it probably should have, considering the time involved, which arouses Kate's feminine suspicions.

Some mild snooping reveals that Geoff's old flame (ironically named Katya) played a much larger role in his life that he dared admit. And Kate's emotions begin to waver just as the couple prepares to celebrate their 45 wedding anniversary in grand style. Just when the pair should be coming together, things begin falling apart.

Like a good marriage, 45 Years demands some commitment. Director Andrew Haigh often tests the audience's tolerance for the inanities of daily life while the tension simmers under the surface. This pastoral pace might be an understandable deal breaker for some, but he's cast the film so well that most of the creative pretension is forgiven. Rampling and Courtenay, both '60s Brit-film veterans who laid down an unforgettable cinematic foundation, could hardly ask for a better late career showcase. Their marriage is full of subtle digs and grudging compromises, the accumulation of which sets up a landslide in the making. Yet it's also full of realistic high and lows between two people who share a life but have lost the passion for it.

Haigh's intentions aren't always clear and motivations can be a bit murky. Kate's discovery of a vital piece of information about Katya creates more questions than it answers, layering the story with 45 years of subplots and sidebars that make for a fascinating game of "read-between-the-lines." But even if Kate's jealousy seems patently unfair, it's also genuinely human. And that may by 45 Years biggest accomplishment of all.

Now on Blu-ray as part of the Criterion Collection, the label presents Haigh's film in predictably stellar fashion with a 2K digital transfer, documentary interviews with the cast and filmmakers, a new interview with David Constantine (author of the short story on which the film is based) plus liner notes by critic Ella Taylor.