Manchester by the Sea. (2016)
A reflection on the Kenneth Lonergan film.
Grief and loss are themes that have been depicted on film with varying degrees of success and authenticity over the years. Kenneth Lonergan’s Manchester by the Sea is one of the most raw and genuine presentations of the messiness of death and its aftermath. Lonergan’s background in theatre is evident in the naunced and subtle dialogue and the sparseness of camera movements. The often static camera position allows the viewer to be a silent observer to the proceedings on screen. What we see is remarkable in its ordinariness. It is this very aspect of the film which raises it above the other films that have attempted to explore the impact of familial bereavement.
Affleck’s performance is nothing short of monumental. He plays Lee Chandler, a husband to Michelle William’s Randi Chandler and father to three children. We meet him at the start of the film working as a maintenance man for an apartment block. He is emotionally closed off, spiritually numb. Through a deftly managed series of flashbacks, we learn of the cause of his unimaginable grief. The flashbacks are effortlessly woven into the fabric of the film and there is never any confusion which timeline we are in. This is down to the expertly written screenplay by Lonergan and the fluid editing by Jennifer Lame.
Where the film excels is in its depiction of the mundane aspects of bereavement. Affleck’s character ringing his place of work organising cover for the next week being one example. The conversations with solicitors, doctors, mortuaries and friends being the other examples. The beating heart of the film is the relationship between Lee Chandler and his nephew Patrick played by Lucas Hedges. His performance possesses as much depth and sincerity as Affleck’s. In a heartbreaking scene, he finally breaks down while taking frozen meat out of the household freezer, reminding him of the stark fact that his recently deceased father lies in a refrigerated mortuary awaiting burial.
The use of humour serves to balance the utter devastation depicted in the film. Uncle and nephew have an easy repartee with each other resulting in cynical quips and comical one-liners. Both forgetting where they parked the car after a visit to the solicitor while they stand freezing in the Massachusetts weather adds a veneer of absurdity to the blanket of grief which otherwise may have smothered the viewer. The film reflects the reality of moments often experienced during bereavement: the overly self conscious strangers fumbling their words in an effort to appear genuine, the care-free nature of children in sombre and solemn environments and the often ludicrously futile attempts by all involved to appear to behave in an appropriate way in such heightened circumstances.
Manchester by the Sea is in many ways a chamber piece. It involves a small amount of characters in a limited environment over a small period of time. The setting of the coastal town filmed over several locations in Massachusetts serves to situate the characters in a very defined environment, a cold and starkly beautiful visual accompaniment to the atmosphere of loss which pervades the film. The orchestral and operatic soundtrack perfectly accentuates the elegance of the both the script and the performances, never showing too much but conveying emotion through small facial gestures and physical utterances.
The word masterpiece is bandied about a bit too regularly but I firmly believe that Manchester by the Sea falls into that category. The economy of narrative strokes by Lonergan and the achingly human performances by all actors result in the most searingly honest portrayal of something we will all experience one day: death. Whether looking at the coffin or inside it, it comes to us all. As a society we are not great at facing up to it. The finitude of life is what makes it all the more precious. What Manchester by the Sea conveys to us is that, despite even the most horrendous losses we experience, there is hope. We see it in the interactions of uncle and nephew in the film, a bond that transcends the ravages of death and ultimately illuminates the path of redemption for anyone who struggles to find it.
Brilliant Neil. 👏🏻