Review of Still Life (2013) by Dillinger P — 27 Sep 2015

Still Life is a completely pitch black comedy that has more than a little to say about the British way of life, however its inability to show even a glimpse of light takes the wind out of this enjoyable, yet blunt film.

Eddie Marsan is James May, a lonely man who spends his time investigating the history of dead bodies and trying to lay them, respectfully to rest. James however is made redundant and is forced to shake his life up, leaving him one final case to resolve.

Still Life is a wonderfully mundane movie, its completely simple, effective and emotionally heavy. The script is sparse of dialogue, leaving most of the action or comedy coming mainly from Marsan physical ability or the extremely lush visuals that are on offer here.

However the film actually benefits from having minimal dialogue, Marsan is a wonderful actor and here his physicality and subtlety actually lend the piece a lot more emotional content by him to really envelope himself in James May.

His mannerisms are extremely world class, May actually feels like a human being and ultimately you cannot help but fall in love with him by the very end. The film however doesnt seem to be too interested in its supporting cast, yes there are a plethora of characters, who all have their own human faults and it works well, for the most part, but apart from Joanne Froggatt as an orphaned daughter, the supporting performances are really nothing to write home about.

It is completely obvious that the main driving force is Marsan, however it would not have hurt the film to inject a bit more likability into the supporting roles, even if it was only an small amount. As mentioned earlier Still Life also boasts some wonderful visual ability here, it is a wonderfully shot and gorgeous looking film, its simple and effective, choosing to present itself full screen rather than letter box, which makes all the difference with its final presentation.

The lighting is tremendously subtle and soft and the framing is actually extremely tight and inventive, without seeming to artsy. One of the best visual moments in fact is a blink and you will miss it reference, in which the deceased bundles a stack of books under his chair, in order to support a missing leg, only for the same method to be employed by his estranged daughter much later on in the piece, its an extremely simple thing and one the film can live without, but its these little moments that actually make what could have been a rather bland movie stand out, the film is full of them, and it is actually worth a second watch through to try and spot them all.

For all its simplicity Still Life does have some glaring issues, which regardless of all the films achievements cannot be ignored. It is painfully bleak, to the point of no return, even though the film tries to find solace in it.

The films running time is only 1 and a half hours, it does however feel a lot longer, its a harsh and slow burning affair, never really feeling as human as it would appear to make you believe. There are some pieces of material that beg to have happy endings or at least some positive notions, and although I tip my hat off to Uberto Pasolini's unwavering attempt here, I cant help but feel it is lacking in a little ray of sunshine.

Still life will not be every ones cup of tea, its simple and honest, lush and thought provoking and although all of these things are all good, this comedy will leave you feeling utterly miserable by the end.