Archipelago

Even the cinematography was very poor and uninspiring. We gave up after an hour. That was made slightly less of a waste of time by a fine bottle of wine!

I guess many people must have more functional families than I do, which is why so many reviewers didn't 'get' Archipelago. I found it utterly gripping, absorbing and moving: There is so much going on in the spaces and silences that Hogg invites us to fill in for ourselves.

With the exception of the cook Rose, and the son Ed (who is at least attempting to break out of the family's emotional noose) the characters are not obviously likeable, but they're entirely empathetic, and the uptight mother and bitter sister are the bigger victims. The theme of absent fathers is writ large: The dominant family's is absent by choice and neglect, the outsider's (Rose's) has recently died. But it's plainly apparent which family is the happier.

The Tresco landscape sets an apt backdrop for the bleak and furious undercurrents of the family's superficially polite but deeply dysfunctional relationships. The metaphor of painting (a silent art) as a suitable form of self-expression for the suppressed lives of the middle-classes functions as a thread, along with the indulgent meals of freshly-caught lobster and guinea-fowl which punctuate the story. These serve as a reminder that nature in all its sinew and vigour can be all too easily and dumbly consumed, but not truly appreciated, when the family's shared times are spiritually and emotionally-bleached.

I'm not entirely surprised so many people missed the point of this movie. It's sparse, quiet and apparently undramatic. I saw it in the cinema when it was first released and loved it then. I watched it again on TV a week or so ago and found it even more satisfying on second viewing. I found myself screaming at the TV, willing these appallingly repressed people to speak their truths to each other.

I will certainly watch it again and again. Highly recommended.

A suggestion for a more entertaining evening would be to buy a pot of paint (preferably grey); paint something and watch it dry for 140 minutes (the run time of the Archipelago). The film defines a whole new meaning for the word ‘dull.’ Watching it, you think, “Well something’s going to happen soon” because no serious film maker could offer this was as an entertaining or engaging film as it is so far (Although at one point somebody gets cross).

The film is pretentious and inward looking and might be excused had it been made in the 60s or 70s, when this was a more acceptable genre.

Trying to be positive, the camera work is excellent and the scenes from Tresco are evocative and set an air of expectation (sadly not rewarded!)

Breathtakingly boring film. Boring people as an obviously repressed dysfunctional family, seemingly ad lib dialogue filmed across a very lovely backdrop, doing nothing in particular with many moments of silence. A '15 ' certificate because of a smattering of 'f' words, apart from that boring boring boring. Waiting for something to happen but nothing ever did

I like to give any film a reasonable chance, but I found this film dull in the extreme. Packed with was scenes which could have quite easly have been omitted from the film without affecting the story, it was like spending 1 hour 40 minutes with the dullest family ever. No my sort of film!!