These are questions raised by Andrew Haigh's magnificent, long-awaited second feature, 45 Years. This quiet drama is about a couple, Geoff (Tom Courtenay) and Kate (Charlotte Rampling), approaching their 45th wedding anniversary when Geoff learns that the body of his missing former flame, Katya, has been discovered frozen in the mountains. The revelation brings back a flood of memories about Geoff, and Kate discovers more about the man she married and his life before her.
The above plot description is intentionally sparse, because the film itself does not sensationalize this premise (other films surely would play up the soapy development that sets the plot in motion). Instead, Haigh focuses his film on the relationship between Geoff and Kate and how this discovery impacts them separately and together. Courtenay and Rampling each give phenomenal, understated performances that highlight their characters' interior lives and their inability to gain access to the other's. Together, they present a marriage that feels lived-in, complete with a sense of history between them.
More than anything, this is a film about memory. The spectre of Katya hangs over the entire film: though she is never seen, her presence is felt in every scene. Haigh doesn't spell this out or underline anything, however. He trusts his actors and himself to convey the intimate, achingly human truths of the film. Like his previous masterpiece, Weekend (2011), 45 Years is heartbreaking and engaging, a truly human document. A+
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