The Souvenir: A Linear, Non-Linear Structure | Video Essay
The Souvenir is one of the top five movies of 2019. Here's my analysis of the film's clever structure, marking a departure from director Joanna Hogg's previous work, and why it's one of the best movies of the year.
The Souvenir (2019)
Directed by Joanna Hogg
Starring Honor Swinton-Byrne, Tom Burke, Tilda Swinton, Richard Ayoade
#TheSouvenir #BestMovies2019
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Joanna Hogg’s film The Souvenir follows Julie, a young woman swept into a relationship with an older man, Anthony. They visit the Wallace Collection and look at a favourite painting of his; they argue over art; they make love and go on holiday. But something is different here; Anthony is an addict, and his habit pushes him to do more and more things that put Julie at risk. Finally, she breaks off their relationship. Anthony seeks help and recovers, they rekindle their romance; he relapses, and dies of an overdose in the toilets at the Wallace Collection.
Drawing heavily on Hogg’s own experiences with a previous partner, The Souvenir communicates a story about a toxic relationship while also mercilessly examining Hogg’s substantial privilege and the nature of self-reflexive art-about-artists. It’s a rich and beautiful film. It also marks a stark departure from Hogg’s previous, very contained work. Her first three features each concern a single location which the characters barely leave- a villa in Tuscany, a cottage and surrounding area in the Scilly isles, a modernist house in London. They’re also straightforward in their approach to time, entirely linear films that unfold in a relatively tight timescale.
The Souvenir is firmly based in Julie’s flat, but branches out to many different, distinctive locations, in particular a fleeting and dreamlike trip to Venice. It also seems to have a more subjective timeline. Early in the film, while reading about Venice, a single shot of a church reflected in a puddle is shown; later, the characters visit Venice and this shot is repeated, implying it to be a sort of flashforward. Likewise, letters between the lovers are read aloud throughout the film, over a shot of three trees in a row on the horizon. Even when time passes normally, it seems fragmented; the order of a holiday, with its trips and dinners and mornings by the pool, is long gone. Julie’s world collapses down to this time she shares with Anthony, everything revolving around him and her interactions with him; her time at film school is mostly off-screen, Hogg instead following their conversations between takes. When time passes, it does so in fits and starts, the film taking place over roughly a year but with very little indication of that.
This is a massive departure from form for Hogg. Or so it seems on first inspection. Recently I’ve begun to wonder if perhaps the film is told in a straight line, but from an unusual perspective.
After Anthony’s passing, Julie returns to film school and makes a film she’s been planning throughout this time. A camera dollies in on an actor; as it does so, Hogg’s camera dollies in on Julie, and she faces to the frame, mirroring the pose of the titular painting, Anthony’s favourite. The next shot is almost black, steeped in shadow. As these doors open, we can see the view outside; three trees, lined up on the horizon. Where Julie’s standing, they’d probably look like this. My understanding is that the entirety of The Souvenir is a recollection, from this moment in the story; it’s Julie looking back at herself, at her relationship with Anthony. Their letters are re-read in her mind while looking at this view; she recollects their trip to Venice when they read about it together, before they actually do it. And the more intimate moments of the film- tea parties in bed- are memories, hazy and unmoored in time as they tend to be.
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indietrix film reviews is a movie review channel hosted by Will Webb with a wide view of cinema, taking in arthouse, indie and blockbuster movies with lots of analysis and discussion.
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Пікірлер: 28
Your analysis is very well constructed. I think the idea of the movie is actually very similar with Aftersun (2022) where they employ the exact same style of a seemingly non-linear structure through snippets that are meant to represent the main protagonist reliving their memories.
Enjoyed your interpretation. Defintely gonna revisit this one soon. Joanna Hogg is brilliant. She deserves so much more attention
@Indietrix
4 жыл бұрын
Thanks mate, appreciate that! Her movies are fab and more people should talk about her work. I did a vid about her for LWL if you're interested: kzread.info/dash/bejne/gXl9uZqietGsj7g.html
I love finding people more knowledgeable than I to learn from
@Indietrix
4 жыл бұрын
haha, thanks mate, so glad you enjoyed the video!
This is an amazing film, my favorite ever
That ‘F Bomb’ came out of nowhere 😂
@Indietrix
7 ай бұрын
sometimes you gotta zag when they want you to zig
@scottlawton1601
7 ай бұрын
@@Indietrix 😂😂
Great job, this video really arouses the desire to revisit the film and your perceptive sensitivity is inspiring.
@Indietrix
3 жыл бұрын
thank you so much- i'm glad you enjoyed the video and hope you are looking forward to The Souvenir Part II!
beautiful film, and this essay on it is magnificent!
@Indietrix
4 жыл бұрын
thank you so much- and yes agreed, it's a beautiful film! Do check out Hogg's other work if you liked this; I'm particularly fond of her first film, Unrelated.
Brilliant review. Prompted me to look at the film in a different light given your insights (about the nature of time; the footage shot at art school by Hogg, her meeting Derek Jarman)
@Indietrix
2 жыл бұрын
glad the review helped illuminate the film a bit more for you Derek; would recommend you watch Part 2 when it comes out in January, it's a very interesting bit of critical commentary on the first part and has a much more fractured, stylised approach.
Hello ! Just stumbled into your channel, really liking the content and approach you are offering. I was wondering, how does it work with rights when you post ? Do you have to cut or choose the takes in a certain way for you to be able to post the content ? Thanks !
@Indietrix
Жыл бұрын
hey, thanks so much, glad you're enjoying! RE rights - I tend to just cut my stuff as I please while sticking to the fair dealing/fair use defence. Basically that means making sure that my use is limited to critical context (footage backs up a point i'm making) or provides context for audience (where plot would be needed to make sense of something in my video). My videos often get a copyright claim, which I contest (if it limits monetisation), arguing for fair dealing/fair use, with a timestamped text showing why I chose each clip. *most* of the time that works!
@pilpoilplante
Жыл бұрын
@@Indietrix Nice ! It's alot of work, but I'm glad you're managing to deliver without having to censor too much ! Thanks for the quick response.
Can anyone tell me the name of the hotel in Venice where they filmed????
@Indietrix
2 жыл бұрын
I believe they never went to Venice! Judging from this article, the film was almost entirely shot in Norfolk, with Holkham’s Statue Gallery standing in for the Venetian hotel: www.thelocationguide.com/2019/09/joanna-hoggs-the-souvenir-based-at-raynham-hangars-and-shot-exclusively-in-norfolk/
Who's excited for the sequel?
@Indietrix
3 жыл бұрын
so pumped for the most arthouse cinematic universe ever (so far)
why was she attracted to him? he seemed like the most pretentious, aloof awful person.
@Indietrix
4 жыл бұрын
I think she's pretty pretentious too! She's sort of weak and unlikeable in her own way. And she's definitely looking for someone to show her the way a bit; all his strong tastes and '''refined''' sensibilities provide a sort of guide into adulthood for her (albeit a misguided one). Hogg's follow-up film should be out in a bit; I think Part II will deal more with her recovery from the relationship and growing up a bit, gaining perspective on it.
@colinarmis
4 жыл бұрын
it made a lot of sense to me at least, shes very self conscious and shy, so she is attracted to this man who is everything she isnt
@lauraf.e2788
3 жыл бұрын
In my opinion, Tom Burke's character is a narcissist. He is attractive as he is a mystery. Seemingly confident, and yet so undeniably tortured. This can be very attractive to women who want to love and fix a man. The emotional intensity, offset by the aloof behaviour, is a drug. I relate strongly. In my younger years, this was the sort of man I was attracted to.
@JR-hi9bu
3 жыл бұрын
@@lauraf.e2788 you again!
@pluviosity
2 жыл бұрын
There's a line in David Ehrlich's Indiwire review that sums it up best imo: "when you’re so desperate to become yourself that you’ll happily believe in anyone else you happen to find along the way."