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Morvern Callar
2003
Movern Callar awakes on Christmas morning to the shocking discovery that her boyfriend has committed suicide and is lying in a pool of blood on the bedroom floor. She finds a manuscript of the novel that he has been writing and decides to dispose of his body and pass the novel off as her own work... Read more
| Starring | Samantha Morton, Kathleen McDermott, Linda McGuire |
|---|---|
| Director | Lynne Ramsay |
| Genres | Drama |
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Morvern Callar
Movern Callar awakes on Christmas morning to the shocking discovery that her boyfriend has committed suicide and is lying in a pool of blood on the bedroom floor. She finds a manuscript of the novel that he has been writing and decides to dispose of his body and pass the novel off as her own work...
| Starring | Samantha Morton, Kathleen McDermott, Linda McGuire |
|---|---|
| Director | Lynne Ramsay |
| Studio | MOMENTUM PICTURES |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 30 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Drama |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Released | DVD: 04 Oct 2004 Production year: 2003 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (3)
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Based on Alan Warner's cult novel, this is director Lynne Ramsay's follow-up to her acclaimed debut Ratcatcher. Preserving the novel's quirky and oblique originality, Ramsay relates the tale of the eponymous Oban shopgirl (an intelligent and compelling performance from Samantha Morton) who wakes on Christmas morning to find that her boyfriend has committed suicide. Morvern casually dismembers and buries his body, telling her best friend that they have split up, and then deletes her boyfriend's name from the novel he has bequeathed her, keys in her own and sends it to a publisher. Using money from his bank account, she departs for a hedonistic holiday in Spain, where the film shifts gear. Against Ramsay's skilful evocation of Balearic rave culture, Morvern and best friend Lanna (Kathleen McDermott) fall out and we are forced to ask questions about what she actually wants out of this puzzling expedition. Recalling Ratcatcher in its assured directorial style (that could be described as art house plus warmth) and in the way wide open spaces represent escape to prisoners of urban routine, Morvern Callar is not quite the equal of Ramsay's debut, but it confirms her reputation as a true cinematic artist.
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When Morvern (Morton), a supermarket assistant living in a small Scottish port, wakes to find her would-be-novelist... read more on Time Out
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Most helpful member's review
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21 out of 27 people found this review helpful
A collection of nice moments rather than a good film
After her striking debut 'Ratcatcher', Lynne Ramsay's second effort is a strange, mood-driven film which is only partially succesful. Samantha Morton plays Morvern Callar as a blank, a seemingly emotionless young girl with an almost childlike approach to life. When Morvern wakes up one morning to find her boyfriend has committed suicide, she reacts calmly. The manuscript for his novel is displayed on his computer screen so she replaces his name with hers and sends it off to be published. Then, after disposing of the body(something she seems to find remarkably easy), she takes money out of his bank account and heads to Spain with her friend Lanna(Kathleen McDermott).
And that's pretty much the plot right there; Morvern and Callar have fun in Spain until Morvern's mood swings cause a rift in their friendship, and the film drifts aimlessly towards the climax.
The problem with 'Morvern Callar' is the fact that we never get inside the main charcater's head. Why did she react in this way? We never get any clues and Ramsay seems reluctant to give us any. This clearly talented Scottish director seems to have as little idea as we have when it comes to Morvern's motives.
Ramsay is obviously a director more adept at capturing moments and creating a tangible atmosphere than developing a narrative. It's the occasional moments of beauty and intrigue that she finds that make 'Morvern Callar' watchable. But the whole thing is unconvincing, especially the ludicrous scene where the publishers fly to Spain to offer Morvern a ?100,000 advance, and the slow pace Ramsay employs tries the patience.
This is clearly a young director with bags of talent, but she needs to instil her work with a little more discipline to fully advance herself. 'Morvern Callar' seems like one step forward, two steps back for Ramsay. -
Most recent members' review
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3 out of 3 people found this review helpful
Bleak look at emotional disfunction
The plot of this movie, Scottish trailertrash girl finds suicide boyfriend's novel and convinces publishers she's literary genius, sounds like a black comedy, a cross between Being There and Trainspotting. But it's not; it's a character study of a girl with emotional problems, lack of affect being not the least.
Most of the movie is spent with her listlessly listening to music and going on vacation to Spain. This is realistic enough, and the character portrayal is true, but after 90 minutes I'd had enough of this woman's company to last a lifetime. -
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Morvern Callar
Movern Callar awakes on Christmas morning to the shocking discovery that her boyfriend has committed suicide and is lying in a pool of blood on the bedroom floor. She finds a manuscript of the novel that he has been writing and decides to dispose of his body and pass the novel off as her own work......
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