Nov. 7: The Souvenir
Thursday, November 7, 2019
7 pm @ Galaxy Cinemas, Sault Ste. Marie, ON
Director: Joanna Hogg
UK/USA 2019
English; 119 minutes
Rating: 14A for some sexuality, graphic nudity, drug material, and language
Julie (Honor Swinton Byrne) is finding her place as an artist in 1980s west London, trying to shed her sheltered and privileged upbringing and immerse herself in the real world for the sake of her art. Her journey is derailed by Anthony (Tom Burke), whose charm is equalled by his depravity, but whom she cannot help but love — much to the dismay of her friends and her mother (played by
Swinton Byrne’s real-life mother, Tilda Swinton). Capturing the
intensity and naiveté of a first adult love, The Souvenir is a time
capsule of our collective bad decisions and tormented relationships.
A work of memoir shattered and reassembled into a universally moving, truthful fiction. Guy Lodge, Variety
Swinton Byrne and Burke make for one of the year’s most intriguing screen couples, although this is a romance based on anxiety, narcissism and opportunism rather than anything resembling genuine affection.
Peter Howell, Toronto Star
An extraordinary rumination on memory and privilege while also being one of the most incisive movies ever to directly address – in moral,
philosophical and personal terms – what it means to be a filmmaker.
Oliver Jones, Observer