This post originally appeared on the DVD Netflix blog “Inside the Envelope.” That company folded in 2023, and the blog was shut down, but you might find some good stuff here.
Sometimes a film receives enthusiastic reviews from the critics—and visceral condemnation from the general public. Writer/director Joanna Hogg’s The Souvenir (2019) finds itself in such a dichotomy. The BBC film, loosely based on Hogg’s own experiences as a young filmmaker, received a 90 percent from professional critics on Rotten Tomatoes, while the audience score is only a third of that.
Cheers and Jeers
Hogg’s coming-of-age drama has received plenty of critic cheers. The Souvenir is often included in lists of the best independent films of 2019. It received a score of 92 from Metacritic. It was the 2019 grand-jury prize winner at the Sundance Film Festival. The Souvenir has also been nominated in the international film category of the Film Independent Spirit Awards, to be held on February 8, 2020.
London film critic, Kate Stables, considers The Souvenir a “gorgeously melancholy tale.” Critic Courtney Howard writes that the film is “simultaneously heartbreaking and heartening.” And then there’s Brian Tallerico’s review on Roger Ebert’s site, in which he delivers interesting advice, “Be patient.”
Is it a lack of patience that resulted in the many jeers for The Souvenir? One audience reviewer on Rotten Tomatoes commented, “This movie is so boring that most of the audience was fast asleep in the first 10 minutes.” An IMDb user complained that the only thing engaging about the film was “engaging with the droves of people in the lobby who left it early in disgust.” Another wrote, “I found myself checking the time on my phone.”
Is it realistic for Tallerico to ask us to be patient when there are more films available than we can ever watch in our lifetimes? Perhaps, because in this case, having some patience provides a payoff. This movie will stay with you. The Souvenir is not an action film. It’s not a raucous comedy. It’s a penetrating look at the life of a young, insecure filmmaker in the early 1980s. And while one movie goer considered the film’s characters, plot, and relationships “unbelievable,” the story actually recalls many of Joanna Hogg’s personal experiences.
Let’s Look Inside. . .
Now that we’ve viewed the film from an external perspective, let’s take a look inside. Set in the early 1980s, the main character, Julie, (Honor Swinton Byrne) wants to be a filmmaker. She lives in a posh London apartment paid for by her parents. Julie seems to have everything going for her, but she she’s awkward and also appears to be unhappy. Does she feel pressure from her parents to achieve success and honor the family?
When Julie meets suave Anthony (Tom Burke) at a party, they experience a mutual attraction and have a deep conversation. Soon after, Anthony sends Julie a written invitation to meet with him. Over champagne in a setting modeled after the Ritz in Piccadilly, they discuss the feature film she’s “making,” a claim she asserts on multiple occasions, which sounds more and more hollow each time. She has no complete script, and she’s made no progress toward production, but the film seems to be what provides definition to her life. When Anthony challenges her approach to the film’s premise, she finds herself on the defense, putting her in a subordinate position.
Julie deflects and asks Anthony what he does for a living. He tells her he works for the “foreign office.” He concedes that the job is boring, but as their relationship deepens, he hints that his work is dangerous, secretive, and it keeps her, and other citizens, from being blown up on the street.
Anthony takes Julie to view the Wallace Collection and leads her to a petite Jean-Honoré Fragonard oil painting called, “The Souvenir.” The 18th century work depicts a young woman carving letters into a tree. In an odd exchange, Anthony asks Julie if she likes the woman, and Julie replies that she “loves” her. Anthony then muses that the young woman has just received word from her lover, and she’s carving his initials into the tree. Julie says that the woman looks sad, and Anthony counters that she looks determined. Julie concedes and adds that the woman is also very much in love. Anthony echoes this observation and Julie answers him adoringly, “Yes.”
The Fragonard painting is based on Jean-Jacque Rousseau’s title character in the 1761 novel, Julie, or the New Heloise. Is Anthony using the painting to tell Julie he loves her? Clearly, the conversation and painting hold the core of the film.
“You’re Lost”
Having captured Julie’s mind and heart, Anthony plays mind games with her. During a conversation at her apartment, he comments on her personality, uttering the most-truthful lines in the film: “You’re lost. And you’ll always be lost.” He insinuates that he is the one to find her and he helps her with her application to film school.
Julie soon seems to be headed in the right direction. She’s in school. She’s in love. But then, she notices marks on the insides of Anthony’s elbows, and she speculates that they must be some sort of rash. It’s not until one of Anthony’s friends casually mentions his drug habit, that she realizes her newfound happiness is threatened.
Anthony’s addiction creates increasing havoc, and Julie finds purpose in caring for him, which gives her a handy excuse to put off her schoolwork. Anthony borrows money from her to pay for his drug habit, and when he betrays her in a most-devastating way, she winds up apologizing to him for having been angry with him. How long will Julie tolerate Anthony’s dysfunction? According to Joanna Hogg, the real-life relationship lasted about five years.
In addition to the film being loosely based on Joanna Hogg’s own experiences, an interesting aspect of this film is found with Honor Swinton Byrne who plays Julie. Three weeks before shooting was scheduled to start, the part of Julie had not yet been cast. Byrne’s mother, Tilda Swinton, was set to playJulie’s mother, and one day, Byrne was present while Hogg met with Swinton to discuss her part. Hogg began to see Julie in Byrne, who was not a professional actress. Perhaps it was Byrne’s inexperience that melded well with Julie’s persona and made her performance so believable. In addition, since the film was shot chronologically, and the entire script was not shared with Byrne, many of her expressions and reactions are genuine.
So, who’s right about the merits of The Souvenir? The critics? The general public? It might be of value to consider Tallerico’s advice to be patient. The film unfolds slowly, and it tells a story likely to have you anticipating the sequel, scheduled for release sometime in 2020.
