The Levelling
The film shown at Corrie Film club on Sunday 13th May will be The Levelling (British 2016 Directed by Hope Dickson Leach. 1 hour 23 mins Cert.15)
Somerset, England. Trainee veterinarian Clover Catto (Ellie Kendrick) returns to the farm where she grew up after hearing news that her brother Harry has died in what appears to be a suicide. Finding the family home in a state of horrendous disrepair following the 2014 floods that devastated the area, Clover is forced to confront her father Aubrey (David Troughton) about the farm, the livestock and, crucially, the details surrounding Harry’s death. Clover’s discoveries send her on an emotional journey of reckoning with her family, her childhood and herself. As she learns what has been going on in her long absence she and her father forge a new understanding, but can it withstand the troubles that they face on the ravaged farm as well as the truth of what drove Harry to take his own life?
Writing in the Guardian, Mark Kermode says “From early shots of excavators mournfully hauling sludge under brooding skies (banners read “Save Our Village, Dredge the River”) to dreamy visions of a hare struggling to keep its head above floodwaters, cinematographer Nanu Segal beautifully captures both the interior and exterior landscapes. Precise sound design by Ben Baird, creates an elemental orchestra of wind, water, earth and fire that sings throughout the film. Dog barks and cattle lows interweave with the clang of farmyard gates, while ill-fitting doors and rapped table-tops echo around lonely interiors.
It may sound bleak, but there is such life and compassion in every frame that the film’s tune turns to a song of love. Plaudits to Kendrick and Troughton for playing these strained family ties with such sincerity and grace. As for Dickson Leach, she was cited as a Star of Tomorrow by Screen International way back in 2007 on the strength of The Dawn Chorus. With this tremendous first feature, her moment has finally arrived.”