Sometimes it is difficult to articulate why you do not like a film. Why didn't I enjoy the movie 45 years? It seems it has all the necessary good ingredients for a successful gerontological movie. This British 2015 drama, directed by Andrew Haigh, has received some excellent reviews, and there is no doubt that the playing of its two main figures by Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay is indeed flawless.

The film takes place across six days, and is about an older childless couple, Kate (Rampling) and Geoff Mercer (Courtenay), living in a Norfork England, who are preparing their 45th anniversary. Yet, things get an unexpected twist as the husband receives a letter from Switzerland, which updates him that the body of his love at that time - who was lost in the Alps 45 years ago during a hiking accident – was found. This letter triggers the re-surfacing of hidden and un-discussed feelings that the couple escaped from for many years.

This is a very "British" movie: things move very slowly, and things are said in a very "understatement" tone, the dialogues are minimalist, and the sub-text (or what is unsaid) in not less important than what is said.

Without doubt, this movie raises key gerontological issues: how partnerships and couple hood continues to develop and change in old age; how love and intimacy in later life is still influenced by events occurred many years ago; and how there is no "time-limit" to re-evaluation of life.

However, overall, I was disappointed for one main reason: I did not feel the story was reliable. Why? You'll have to see and judge for your self.

2015

UK

Director: Andrew Haigh

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFPmhyUCzi0