Unrelated (2007)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Joanna Hogg

Writer:

Joanna Hogg (writer)

Release Date:

19 September 2008 (UK)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A woman in an unhappy relationship takes refuge with a friend's family on holiday in Tuscany. |

Plot Keywords:

Family Relationships | Childlessness | Marriage

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Luisa Bartolomei	...	Lingerie Shop Owner
Elisabetta Fiorentini	...	Herself
Giuseppe Fiorentini	...	Himself
Michael Hadley	...	Charlie
Emma Hiddleston	...	Badge
Tom Hiddleston	...	Oakley
Harry Kershaw	...	Archie
Henry Lloyd-Hughes	...	Jack
Leonetta Mazzini	...	Herself
Giovanna Mennell	...	Herself
Jonathan Mennell	...	Himself
David Rintoul	...	George
Mary Roscoe	...	Verena
Nicoletta Stroe	...	Herself
Kathryn Worth	...	Anna

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Ireland:15A

Filming Locations:

Siena, Tuscany, Italy

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): At one point Anna refers to Oakley as Tom, (the name of the actor playing him).

Realistic depiction of misery in Chiantishire

If you wanted a villa holiday in Tuscany this summer and didn't have time, go to this film and by the end you will feel you have spent a fortnight there. Joanna Hogg has created an upper-middle class version of a Mike Leigh film at his slowest. It's beautifully done, and the fortnight is mostly enjoyable, unless you squirm at the sight of drunken Brits abroad or the sound of the upper-middle classes (I developed a thick skin for both of these a long time ago, myself).

The characterisation is subtle, verging on invisible. There's very little intellectual content or sparkling conversation, surely unrealistic in a film about the chattering classes? Perhaps it's the prodigious amount of alcohol that's consumed. All this keeps the focus on Anna, on holiday from her unhappy situation at home, and the cheerfully pie-eyed teenagers that she hangs out with.

The movie was very thin on plot, yet there did seem to be inconsistencies on the departure date for some of the party. I doubt I'll watch it again to check this though; once is nice, but enough.