The Souvenir Part II

Following on neatly from The Souvenir we find Julie (Honor Swinton Byrne) at home with her parents Rosalind (Tilda Swinton) and William (James Spencer Ashworth) plus dogs coming to terms with the trauma of the previous film.

Her life not quite in tatters she sets about getting it back together by completing her film school project. This is isn’t that straightforward as the people around her are on eggshells and her new far more personal project is getting a rough ride from the film school assessors/administrators.

Taking a loan from her mother she sets about completing the project with the help and hindrance of her friends and colleagues. At the same time she’s looking to explore the reasons for Anthony’s (Tom Burke) suicide and what the relationship really meant, bearing in mind how poisonous, on the face of it, it was at times.

That basically is the plot and much of the viewers understanding and enjoyment of Part II could depend on your enjoyment and knowledge of The Souvenir which brings over several of the minor characters into larger parts.

This is most notable with the expanded role of Patrick (Richard Ayoade) where he’s now an ego maniacal film director working on a musical and Garance (Ariane Labed) who is cast into Julie’s film from her production role. However, these are peripheral interests to the core drive of the film which is Julie’s grieving and her search to understand more about Anthony, and produce her film.

What she discovers is that she maybe didn’t know that much about him. He was far more dependent on drugs than she thought even though it had been mentioned to her in no uncertain terms before; her ignorance adding to her angst and embarrassment.

All compounded by visiting Anthony’s old acquaintances drug peddlers in a suitably cliched environment. The revelations strike a genuine note as no matter how long you know someone, you can’t really say you know them, and you never know what someone is thinking. And discovering these are bound to lead to profound hurt, embarrassment and helplessness. Swinton Byrne is excellent here as she unpicks the history of man she loved, who in turn hid so much from her.

This might all sound rather gloomy but intentionally or not Joanna Hogg’s follow on is actually quite funny in parts and could be looked at as a satire or mocking film school which by some accounts she didn’t enjoy. The over sensitive superego director that is Patrick is something of a cliché though this gives Ayoade a chance to chew up his scenes and everyone else involved.

More cutting is the depiction of film school (all-male) assessment panel sitting round a table with a nauseating self-satisfied aloofness and certainty that her new graduation project has no future. Then there’s Julie’s production team; a collective of precocious preciousness who flounce off at every change of direction that she suggests.

There’s a stand-off documentary aspect here that nevertheless forces the viewer to witness the banality of many of their conversations and pronouncements. This creates an uncomfortable distance from the viewer; a detachment with a suggestion that some of these situations will be understood only by a select few.

That is not the case with the grounded and natural return of Tilda Swinton and James Spencer Ashworth who share some wonderfully witty scenes. Spencer Ashworth stands out with some delightful lines of humour delivered with perfect timing that lighten the room though respecting the pain that Julie is clearly still feeling.

On a technical level the film looks wonderful with a gentle colour palate, screen ratios change throughout the film as we differentiate between filmed and filming. All leading towards Julie’s graduation ceremony though we never get to see the film rather a surreal dream sequence that brings Anthony back. It's bold, out of the blue and sort of works but that and the denouement stirred up memories of Peter Greenaway's earlier work.