Song for Marion   Starring: Terence Stamp, Gemma Arterton, Christopher Eccleston and Vanessa Redgrave Distributor: Entertainment One RRP: £15.99 EO51685 Certificate: 12 Release Date: 24 June 2013

Arthur and Marion are very different people; Marion is full of life and optimistic about the future, whereas, Arthur is fearful and emotionally withdrawn. Marion is the only thing which keeps Arthur from imploding into his own self-created misery, the problem is, Marion is dying. Arthur's inability to emotionally open up to anyone other than his wife has driven a wedge between Arthur and his son, so when Marion finally passes on can anything save Arthur from completely isolating himself from life...?

Song for Marion (2012 - 1 hr, 33 min, 31 sec) is a bittersweet comedy, written and directed by Paul Andrew Williams. The film won one award and was nominated for three others, a real shame as this is a powerfully emotional piece.

Although this could be considered a very sad film - my other half cried for the entirety of the film - it is really a story of Arthur’s redemption. He seems to get very little joy out of life, worried that people will laugh if he puts himself forward for anything, this means that Arthur exists, rather than lives. Only Marion can see through his hard outer shell. Even though he appears to have presented this hard face for the whole of his life he is tender with Marion in a way he finds impossible to be with his own son. Marion knowing that she is dying entreats the son not to abandon his father to isolation. It is a promise which he eventually finds hard to keep when, on the death of his wife, Arthur asks his son to leave and never come back.

Oddly enough, Arthur’s impetus for his journey to redemption and reengaging with life comes from neither his son nor his wife, but rather from Marion’s music teacher. In her dying days, the choir, to which she belongs, is putting themselves forward for a competition. Arthur, of course, thinks that they will only embarrass themselves, not understanding the joy of just taking part.

At first Arthur and Elizabeth do not get along, Arthur is fearful that being in the choir will only hasten Marion’s death, Elizabeth resents Arthur for trying to stop his wife doing something which gives her final days meaning. From this inauspicious beginning the two start to form a friendship and the choir becomes a catalyst for Arthur’s reengagement with his son and life.

To say the film is moving would be to do it an injustice; I defy anyone not to sit through the film without blubbing at least once, probably more. Partly, this is due to the pin sharp script, which takes your heart and crushes it on the ground. The script, no matter how good, is only as good as the actors and Song for Marion has an excellent cast, not a single participant misses a beat.

Terrence Stamp plays Arthur, with a layer of regret that avoids the character becoming a Victor Meldrew. Arthur’s heart is heavy, he does not believe he has been a good father or husband, even though Marion sees him as her rock and loves him dearly. Vanessa Redgrave (Marion) is mostly stoic in the face of her impending death, but like Stamp she is able to imbue her performance with nuances which indicate that underneath her outgoing personality, she is still afraid for her own death and the fate of Arthur.

Christopher Eccleston (James) plays his part as the hard done to son, always wanting to reach out to his father, only to find nothing but criticism; it’s an oddity of Arthur's that he will tell almost everyone, except his son, how proud he is of James’s accomplishments. Arthur’s redeeming angel comes in the form of Elizabeth (Gemma Arterton) she moves from an adversarial position to become his confidant. The rest of the cast is made up from some well-known character actors.

The DVD is pin sharp, but then this is a very recent film and there are audio options for DTS-MA 5.1 lLPCM 2.0, audio description, subtitles and English for the hard of hearing. There is an informative full length commentary and in the extras you get Interviews with the cast (13 min, 25 sec), discussing the movie. Nine deleted scenes (8 min, 47 sec), nice to see but their inclusion would have ruined the pacing of the film and some Outtakes (4 min, 18 sec).

This film could so easily have been a mawkish mess, but between the script and the actors performances they have pulled of a real little gem.

8

Charles Packer