Hope Gap
A couple's visit with their son takes a dramatic turn when the father tells him he plans on leaving his mother.
Director:
William Nicholson
Cast:
Josh O'Connor, Bill Nighy, Annette Bening
Screenplay:
William Nicholson
Screening Date:
Feb 29, 2020
Studio:
Screen Media Films, Curzon Artificial Eye, Ascot Elite Entertainment Group, Front Row Filmed Entertainment, Russian World Vision, CDI Films, Condor Entertainment, Dutch FilmWorks (DFW), Transmission Films
Running Time:
1h 40min
| Excellent | Very Good | Good | Fair | Poor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40.9% | 27.2% | 18.1% | 13.6% | 0.0% |
“I loved this film. It is one of the wisest, most nuanced and
efficiently rendered narratives of such events and I think very
powerful observation of marriage and relationships. Ok that
was a really long sentence but here’s a short one: Not one
frame, not one line of dialogue, not one edit in the film was off.
It was totally well done and moved me.” Jeanne K
“Loved the presentation of a marriage break down and break
up from a seniors’ perspectives. I’ve lived this film.”
“Rather sappy. Wife needed a therapist not a church. And they
broke the first rule of divorce - don’t involve the kids. Love
Annette Bening, she’s an excellent bitch!”
“Excellent film and performances. Another couple (like the pair
in ORDINARY LOVE) who have a very tiny social network and
therefore experience extraordinary pressure on their
immediate family.”
“Film students – compare the divorce lawyer scenes in this film
and MARRIAGE STORY. Both are wildly different yet each
contain their own universal truths.”
“Best use of drone camerawork, not just for cool photography
but with those white cliffs involved they oftentimes these shots
went to character and were often as threatening as beautiful.”
“Excellent film, but it was over-written. Much too talky with
heavy dialogue, unnecessary to the characters’ point of view at
the moment. Needs more cutting.”
“Intriguing story of marriage kept me wondering why the
couple didn’t go to a marriage counselor early on?”
“Great use of setting - the seashore being a metaphor for
departures and new beginnings for not only husband and wife
but son as well. But yes the future for Annette can feel like
falling off a cliff.”
“An intelligent insightful invasive exploration of a marriage in
decline. Well written, well-acted, well directed and well worth
watching. Another memorable Annette Bening performance
and Bill Nighy was quietly powerful as the tortured good guy.
Very good on so many levels.”
“Excellent film with well-rounded characters. We could
understand all the character’s motivations and perspectives.
Thank you John for this excellent film!”
“Glad to see how well Josh O’ Conner held his own with two
icons.”
“Glad that the film has a sense of humor, such as naming the
dog Edward.”
“This is such a rich, poetic film, so finely nuanced in its
presentation of a relationship that ends for reasons not even
clear to those who live it. But the audience does. He is all facts
and Wikipedia, she is all poetry and emotion. Opposites attract
if you’re made of steel, with humans, not so much.”
“Edward has made the right choice for anew partner. Angela’s
only line in the film is ‘I saw three unhappy people, and now
there is only one.’ Clearly she agrees with the philosophy of
letting the wounded fall off the wagon and freeze to death.”
“A brilliant film that should be taught in screenwriting classes
for superbly drawn characters and for dialogue that’s the
perfect balance between artificial theater-speak and boring
everyday language.”
If you'd like to know more about the film...
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45026/sudden-light
For the literature buffs who would like to dissect the poem Grace mentioned throughout the film (“I have been here before”), here is a link to Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s poem, Sudden Light.
https://www.theatermania.com/new-york-city-theater/reviews/the-retreat-from-moscow_4019.html
This link summarizes the play that the film was adapted from: The Retreat From Moscow. This title comes from Napoleon’s invasion of Moscow and his subsequent retreat. The play was nominated for three Tony Awards in 2004. David Finkle, the author of this article, writes, “Nicholson's sometimes patchy but ultimately rewarding probe is founded on an assumption about a basic difference between men and women: that, in any romantic liaison, women want and need more from men than men are willing or able to give.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PU-Qo99zgrQ
A link to an interview with William Nicholson. He briefly discusses how he felt during his parents’ divorce, his decision to exclude his two sisters from the film, and the locations used to record the film’s interior and exterior scenes.
http://www.williamnicholson.com/about
This link will take you to Nicholson’s website. He explains his parents’ backgrounds and their beliefs. He also writes about his life from when he was seven years old. The majority of his story was omitted in Hope Gap in order to develop his parents’ story. If you would like to learn about why Jaime didn’t believe in God or why he lived alone, visit this link!
