On A Clear Day (Gaby Dellal, UK, 2004, 98 Minutes)
Unquestionably one of the finest British actors of the last decade, highlighted particularly by his remarkably emotive depiction of Joe Kavanagh, the recovering alcoholic in Ken Loach’s masterpiece My Name is Joe, Peter Mullan here takes the lead role of Frank, an ageing shipyard worker struggling to come to terms with his recent redundancy. Surrounded by his friends and former workmates (a perhaps unimaginatively cast range of support actors who mostly flounder when sharing the screen with Mullan) Frank, also troubled not only by a very distanced relationship from his son (Jamie Sives; good looking, charming, but hellishly predictable) but also with the memory of his youngest son’s tragic drowning, attempts to come to terms with all of these things by resolving to swim the English Channel, and in the process offering what everyone around him, what modern day glasgow, and what he himself desperately needs: hope.
The Glasgow portrayed in this film seems a little unreal; almost a caricature of the actually very modern, much more cosmopolitan city which could once boast one of the leading shipyards in the world. Nevertheless, Dellal chooses to highlight the still very working class atmosphere of the town, through backdrops of huge high-rise flats, chip shops on every corner, a blue-collar white-collar divide amongst the shipyard workers, and an existing level of racism towards immigrants. What this creates, alongside the quite superb portrayal by Mullan of Frank as a character finding it hard to come to terms with changes; both his own, as he gets older, and those of society, is a thoroughly believable atmosphere of difficulty and despair. As he watches his friend attempt unsuccessfully to fix a broken mobile phone, Frank comments that ‘things aren’t meant to be fixed nowadays’, which in a sense encapsulates the struggles of not only the characters of the film, but of Glasgow and many more cities like it. Where once working class areas could boast craftsmen, hard work and dedication, and as a result produce world renowned quality, this entire ethos has become redundant by the rise of commercialism, which calls for every viable commodity to be endlessly replaced, upgraded and bettered, on an annual basis.
Throughout, whether arguing in the face of this injustice (depicted by the bosses of the shipyard who refuse to pay insurance to a fellow worker who has lost an arm) or silently thinking regretfully of the ‘loss’ in very different ways, of both his sons, Peter Mullan is able to obtain viewer sympathy with ease. His sullen, withdrawn emotions, always threatening to explode in an uncontrolled fury, but hidden deep within him as if he can ignore them forever, come together in such a way that even the slightest outpour; from a slow downward drop of the eyes, to a confrontational turn and stare, offer more by way of emotions than some of the best lines of modern day scriptwriters ever can. In a sense he displays exactly what it is to be Scottish; so full of Celtic passion, but unable at most times to come to terms with his emotions. It is a thrilling performance, the viewers appreciation of the film formed chiefly by their unavoidable feelings of concern over the character.
Absolutely no hindrance to all of this is of course Gaby Dellal’s often beautiful direction. With all the right ingredients, from the surroundings to the aforementioned acting quality, the camera tends to stay back, allowing the characters and their envirmonent to be portrayed and developed successfully. The shots of the water, whether from the deck of the boat, from the shore watching the waves slowly fall into land, or close up shots of Frank as he forces his arms to drag his body against the currents, make up all of the best sequences of the film. Whether Dellal may be a water enthusiast, or simply has a wonderful eye for a beautiful, natural shot, these scenes, accompanied mostly by very little dialogue but by soft, charming music, are truly a delight. Where in many other films silent montages are unable to match the quality of their centre acting, Dellal shows herself more than capable of setting, and prolonging, the mood and the tempo of what culminates as an extremely impressive feature debut.
Perhaps surprisingly, in that the film involves a build up of atmosphere before the crescendo of released tension as its end, its very best scene comes near the start. Recently made redundant, Frank goes to the benefits office in order that he can sign on for jobseekers allowance while looking for another job. After thirty six years of working as a proud and vital member of a once world-leading enterprise, and being of the certain ‘old school’ of working class men that feels a sense of shame at being out of work and hence ‘useless’, the pride-swallowing and humiliating ordeal is made all the worse for Frank when he is dealt with by his daughter in law, a worker in the office. What this moment perfectly encapsulates, beyond the struggle of Frank and Angela (Johdi May) To deal with the awkwardness of the situation themselves, is the clashing of old working principles and of new. Frank is a skilled, trained worker who toiled for years in a laborious environment while his wife brought up the children, whereas Angela works in a smart, modern office while her husband, Frank’s son, stays at home to care for the children. In this one scene, the film manages to portray a generation of societal changes in terms of sex, class, and values. Frank tries to deal with the situation, but is unable, and in the end storms out of the office, his proud character shattered. Angela understanding the difficulty of his coming to terms, looks just as upset by the circumstances.
This scene is actually revisited, to an extent, much later in the film. Frank, now completely dedicated to his swimming, is late for his grandson’s birthday party, and his son criticises him for it, accusing him of ‘never being the one who bought the presents’ when he was a child either. Later, when the two confront each other in the swimming pool, the emotional outpour from Frank belies how unaffected he initially seemed by the words. ‘Thirty six years, twelve hours a day’, he roars, ‘when was I supposed to have time to buy the presents’.
On a Clear Day is one of those films where everything just seems to fit together so perfectly. The support cast does struggle, nobody more so than Billy Boyd (of Lord of The Rings fame) who, while seemingly being given all the best lines, does very little to impress; neither particularly funny nor touching. Sives too, who gave a tremendous performance in the title role of Lone Scherfig’s Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself, seems now to be pigeon holed as the funny, good looking, but one dimensional sidekick to a character with much more emotions to express. Towards the end of the film, the stakes for Frank do become a little too high, as we learn that his youngest son had drowned, something he has never once forgiven himself for, which has also caused the void to form deeper in the relationship he holds with his existing son. Arguably, this development was unnecessary, as the importance to Frank of what he was doing needed neither heightening nor further explaining, but perhaps Dellal, anxious to impress in her first feature as director, wanted to ensure that she held the audience’s entire attention throughout. With Mullan in the lead role, she needn’t have been concerned.
There are literally dozens of great scenes in the film, another classic example that of Frank being inspired by a young disabled swimmer who simply refuses to stop swinging his arms and legs until he reaches the other end of the pool. There are also many funny moments, with a single-scene appearance by the fantastic Tony Roper as Merv ‘The Perv’ also note worthy. All in all, this is a terrific, entertaining, and effortlessly touching film, which manages to not suffer too much from its odd moment of predictability, and ultimately deserves all the success it will receive.
Review by Alex McMillan
The Glasgow portrayed in this film seems a little unreal; almost a caricature of the actually very modern, much more cosmopolitan city which could once boast one of the leading shipyards in the world. Nevertheless, Dellal chooses to highlight the still very working class atmosphere of the town, through backdrops of huge high-rise flats, chip shops on every corner, a blue-collar white-collar divide amongst the shipyard workers, and an existing level of racism towards immigrants. What this creates, alongside the quite superb portrayal by Mullan of Frank as a character finding it hard to come to terms with changes; both his own, as he gets older, and those of society, is a thoroughly believable atmosphere of difficulty and despair. As he watches his friend attempt unsuccessfully to fix a broken mobile phone, Frank comments that ‘things aren’t meant to be fixed nowadays’, which in a sense encapsulates the struggles of not only the characters of the film, but of Glasgow and many more cities like it. Where once working class areas could boast craftsmen, hard work and dedication, and as a result produce world renowned quality, this entire ethos has become redundant by the rise of commercialism, which calls for every viable commodity to be endlessly replaced, upgraded and bettered, on an annual basis.
Throughout, whether arguing in the face of this injustice (depicted by the bosses of the shipyard who refuse to pay insurance to a fellow worker who has lost an arm) or silently thinking regretfully of the ‘loss’ in very different ways, of both his sons, Peter Mullan is able to obtain viewer sympathy with ease. His sullen, withdrawn emotions, always threatening to explode in an uncontrolled fury, but hidden deep within him as if he can ignore them forever, come together in such a way that even the slightest outpour; from a slow downward drop of the eyes, to a confrontational turn and stare, offer more by way of emotions than some of the best lines of modern day scriptwriters ever can. In a sense he displays exactly what it is to be Scottish; so full of Celtic passion, but unable at most times to come to terms with his emotions. It is a thrilling performance, the viewers appreciation of the film formed chiefly by their unavoidable feelings of concern over the character.
Absolutely no hindrance to all of this is of course Gaby Dellal’s often beautiful direction. With all the right ingredients, from the surroundings to the aforementioned acting quality, the camera tends to stay back, allowing the characters and their envirmonent to be portrayed and developed successfully. The shots of the water, whether from the deck of the boat, from the shore watching the waves slowly fall into land, or close up shots of Frank as he forces his arms to drag his body against the currents, make up all of the best sequences of the film. Whether Dellal may be a water enthusiast, or simply has a wonderful eye for a beautiful, natural shot, these scenes, accompanied mostly by very little dialogue but by soft, charming music, are truly a delight. Where in many other films silent montages are unable to match the quality of their centre acting, Dellal shows herself more than capable of setting, and prolonging, the mood and the tempo of what culminates as an extremely impressive feature debut.
Perhaps surprisingly, in that the film involves a build up of atmosphere before the crescendo of released tension as its end, its very best scene comes near the start. Recently made redundant, Frank goes to the benefits office in order that he can sign on for jobseekers allowance while looking for another job. After thirty six years of working as a proud and vital member of a once world-leading enterprise, and being of the certain ‘old school’ of working class men that feels a sense of shame at being out of work and hence ‘useless’, the pride-swallowing and humiliating ordeal is made all the worse for Frank when he is dealt with by his daughter in law, a worker in the office. What this moment perfectly encapsulates, beyond the struggle of Frank and Angela (Johdi May) To deal with the awkwardness of the situation themselves, is the clashing of old working principles and of new. Frank is a skilled, trained worker who toiled for years in a laborious environment while his wife brought up the children, whereas Angela works in a smart, modern office while her husband, Frank’s son, stays at home to care for the children. In this one scene, the film manages to portray a generation of societal changes in terms of sex, class, and values. Frank tries to deal with the situation, but is unable, and in the end storms out of the office, his proud character shattered. Angela understanding the difficulty of his coming to terms, looks just as upset by the circumstances.
This scene is actually revisited, to an extent, much later in the film. Frank, now completely dedicated to his swimming, is late for his grandson’s birthday party, and his son criticises him for it, accusing him of ‘never being the one who bought the presents’ when he was a child either. Later, when the two confront each other in the swimming pool, the emotional outpour from Frank belies how unaffected he initially seemed by the words. ‘Thirty six years, twelve hours a day’, he roars, ‘when was I supposed to have time to buy the presents’.
On a Clear Day is one of those films where everything just seems to fit together so perfectly. The support cast does struggle, nobody more so than Billy Boyd (of Lord of The Rings fame) who, while seemingly being given all the best lines, does very little to impress; neither particularly funny nor touching. Sives too, who gave a tremendous performance in the title role of Lone Scherfig’s Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself, seems now to be pigeon holed as the funny, good looking, but one dimensional sidekick to a character with much more emotions to express. Towards the end of the film, the stakes for Frank do become a little too high, as we learn that his youngest son had drowned, something he has never once forgiven himself for, which has also caused the void to form deeper in the relationship he holds with his existing son. Arguably, this development was unnecessary, as the importance to Frank of what he was doing needed neither heightening nor further explaining, but perhaps Dellal, anxious to impress in her first feature as director, wanted to ensure that she held the audience’s entire attention throughout. With Mullan in the lead role, she needn’t have been concerned.
There are literally dozens of great scenes in the film, another classic example that of Frank being inspired by a young disabled swimmer who simply refuses to stop swinging his arms and legs until he reaches the other end of the pool. There are also many funny moments, with a single-scene appearance by the fantastic Tony Roper as Merv ‘The Perv’ also note worthy. All in all, this is a terrific, entertaining, and effortlessly touching film, which manages to not suffer too much from its odd moment of predictability, and ultimately deserves all the success it will receive.
Review by Alex McMillan
posted by Barnaby at 9:13 PM
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