Together
Andrew Robertson (Eye for Film, June 2009)
Somewhere isolated and somewhat empty, a young man is driving home. He's got a beaten up Land Rover with a Faroe Island Ferries sticker, but this could be anywhere. He's returning home from somewhere to visit his parents, with a ghost in the passenger seat.
Literally, in fact, in the form of Guy Flanagan, a mute presence who appears, smirks, disappears. He's clearly a weight on the mind of Rob, played by soon to be the Doctor chap Matt Smith. It's a year on from his brother's funeral, an event that still weighs heavily on his father's mind. Mother (Amanda Boxer) tries to make peace between the two, but it doesn't come, and then there is a confrontation. As the father, Flanagan is good, focusing on ritual, habit, avoiding his living son in his grief.
This is directed by Eicke Bettinga, who co-writes here with his occasional collaborator Zorana Piggot. It is a well-balanced piece, strongly supported by Rhett Brewer's score. The landscape of Lower Saxony is well used, anonymised by snow, crisply shot in a way that removes locative cues. The interior shots too are convincingly homely; throughout this film shows sign of good craft.
Matt Smith's newfound celebrity has elevated what might have been a minor film in stature, but whatever the other roles of its cast it is strong and satisfying in its own right.
There are films that prefer to insinuate rather than declare. Together is the ’introverted type’. It is a short observational story about a relationship between father and son, estranged due to a family loss. German/British director Eicke Bettinga is not using any unknown techniques to capture the presence of the deceased brother. It is more about the actors’ ability to assimilate this experience in the cinematic space with candidness and simplicity. In itself, the bleached photography provides a strong visual tool that tranquilly promotes the sorrowfulness of the circumstances.
The question is, what can be said during a visit of the remaining son to his family’s house a year after the incident? As a matter of fact, not much. Together focuses the narrative on an emotional build-up rather than on momentous explanations and futile dialogue. Gazes, pauses, and gestures reveal more about the relationships than words could suggest. In this respect, the film’s core is essentially the encounter between a father and son, who wrestle, both physically and emotionally, in an attempt to confront their fears.
Together is the film you wish could divulge more. However the minimalism in its means of depicting grief proposes a kind of lightness worth embracing. And life goes on.
Eftihia Stefanidi – Nisimazine – May 14, 2009