Kermode Uncut: The One That Got Away

[@Zveebo]

Morvern Callar is not just Lynne Ramsay’s best movie - it’s one of the best British films ever made. Hats off to you, Dr Kermode, for standing up for it. The final scene of the film in particular is just an absolutely perfect coming together of audio, visuals, story and mood, and yet with no dialogue at all. It’s one of those rare films that stays with you long after you have left the cinema.

[@AbrasiousProductions]

absolutely agree, I feel haunted after watching it

[@edmason7078]

American Beauty, Revolutionary Road and Bond are often cited as Sam Mendes' most important films, but for me, Road To Perdition always made the biggest impact. It's a striking retelling of a well-worn theme in crime cinema with an immaculate score and wonderful performances.

[@JohnnyWrong]

It's always been my favourite. Amazing film. Always wished she'd filmed the follow-up book.

[@Warp75]

100% agreed Mark. Brilliant film & soundtrack

[@scottdylan758]

There's a few of those films that got quiet acclaim from some of my favourite directors though are not as well known as a lot of their other work. Nicolas Roeg's 'Bad Timing', George Romero's 'Martin', DePalma's 'Phantom Of The Paradise' to name a few off the top of my head but there are many more. My favourite Hitchcock film too is 'Shadow Of A Doubt' which I believe is also Hitchcock's favourite of his own.

[@TIDELINERUNNERS]

I adore this Morvern Caller. The opening is so haunting. I only hope we do t have such a long wait for Lynn Ramsay’s next film.

[@rodneymacomber6337]

I had the soundtrack on CD, listen to 100 times before I saw the movie doing so made the movie even more special

[@Mrkizzard]

Such a Beautiful film, Poetic

[@psa-km6kv]

The King of Comedy and After Hours (for Scorsese)

[@joeodonnell921]

'In the mouth of madness' by carpenter & 'spring' by Justin Benson. Honorable mention 'lost river'

[@apocalypsepow]

I personally love Christine I think it's insanely underrated.

[@joeodonnell921]

apocalypsepow 'Christine' is very underrated movie aswel, great performance by guy playing arnie Cunningham.

[@cammy1273]

My favourite film ever.

[@OIP_1]

it's easily one of my favourite movies of all time. deeply odd, funny, and low key. 'you were never really here' and 'we need to talk about kevin' both feel very lurid in comparison

[@JimElford]

Denis Villeneuve's ENEMY is often forgotten, possibly cos its such a small budget movie, almost a side project

[@iutopian9322]

Im not too sure about that, i mean it's a great film, maybe even his best but a lot of people have seen it and it did received critical acclaim.

[@Pook54]

Really? Who can forget THAT ending?!

[@apocalypsepow]

that giant spider over Toronto was my fav part

[@shonna_77]

This isn't just my favourite Lynne Ramsay film, this is my favourite film period! Ramsay is so gifted at adapting novels into something more, at portraying the subjective experience of the protagonist. And that soundtrack -- the best there is! This is currently showing on the Criterion Channel. If you're reading this and you've never seen it, don't miss this chance! Also, can I say it's really annoying that Ramsay has been dismissed from projects for being "difficult". Straight up f'n sexist BS right there. Kubrick was difficult. David O Russel is difficult (and makes mid movies imo). Lynne Ramsay is a genius! Any producer she works with should let her create her vision. Fools!

[@Salman-Zaki]

This reminds me of how John Ford considered The Sun Shines Bright, a film he made in 1953, as his personal favourite of all his films. It's not well known, but the film has been championed by film critics like Jonathan Rosenbaum over the years.

[@AbrasiousProductions]

I'll check it out, I love esoteric cinema❤

[@Salman-Zaki]

@@AbrasiousProductions I hope you like the film. Make sure to watch the 100-minutes long (1 hr 40 mins) version and not the 92-minutes long (1 hr 32 mins) U.S. theatrical cut.

[@RocketinExile]

Outstanding film...outstanding performance..

[@matthewcorbett2078]

I wasn’t bowled over by the film when I saw it years ago but aside from Morton it was that soundtrack that absolutely carried it - first class. I ordered it about 5 minutes after watching (back when we actually used to buy music) 👍👍👍👍

[@riffraffrichard]

I loved this film there’s an ambiguity and sensuality that’s beautiful about it that echoes the way the main character embraces and lives in the moment.

[@TabrisRebuild]

Morvern Callar is beautiful, possibly a masterpiece, overwhelmed me, need to rewatch it.

[@delbongo]

Who on earth likened it to Trainspotting when it came out? They were on smack.

[@donnchaodalaigh4031]

delbongo z they weren't likening the the two movies just that this movie could have had the same impact and popularity

[@delbongo]

donnchaÓdálaigh I realise that but it’s still a stupid comparison. Morvern Callar is a very heavy duty art film. Trainspotting is absolutely not that.

[@julie223783]

I am mid way through the book. I can visualise Samantha playing this part. I will watch to see how well it adapts to screen. Looks brilliant.

[@KitchenSinkSoup]

Did you like it?

[@Matt.Pattinson]

On a similar note I have often found that actors when asked their favorite work they invariably not mention the roles they are most well known for. I believe Michael Caine said one of his favourite movies was Dirty Rotten Scoundrels for example.

[@bensley56]

Morton was wonderful in Code 46 -- another underviewed movie.

[@van8ryan]

I discovered this through Roger Ebert's review of it. GREAT Movie!

[@lenafranklin7262]

This is a cult movie. I ADORE IT

[@TheJuzi]

The title of this film got in the way, it doesn't say anything...

[@Thinaran]

Yeah. Somehow I managed to confuse it with Margin Call for the longest time.

[@dariusasghari]

A title must say something?

[@freddoproductions]

Probably one of my favourite films that doesn't seemed to get mentioned much is The Nice Guys, only found it around a month or two ago but since then I have watched it quite a few times. It's very good but to me it seems to be one that not many people know, maybe i'm wrong, but like Tower Heist (another great film I love), I don't remember hearing about The Nice Guys when it came out.

[@FirstnameLastname-kn5sw]

Freddo Productions You should definitely watch 'Kiss, Kiss Bang Bang' then. Same writer/director, Shane Black. And 'The Nice Guys' is kind of a spiritual sequel to it... Tower Heist, you are alone on that one lol.

[@freddoproductions]

Okay thanks for letting me know, I had heard of it but again, only recently due to me suddenly looking up Shane Black's filmography, Nice Guys also rips a lot off from the first Lethal Weapon, I guess cause he wrote that too. Lol surprised not more people like Tower Heist I really enjoy and it's a feel good movie I can watch whenever I'm down. But still, even if you don't like Tower Heist you gotta admit it's got an amazing score.

[@freddoproductions]

Okay thanks, never realised it had Kilmer and Downey Jr in it i just remember hearing the name of the film.

[@tbwatch88]

brilliant film with a stellar perf by good old Sam. it's one of those where it's better than the book. I read a LOT of Scottish fiction and Warner's novel is interesting and a bit inventive but it's not a patch on anything by James Kellman.

[@Jo.Weaver]

I love his respect for Samantha Morton

[@kristiantorres1080]

where can I see this?

[@claudioalvarezrodriguez4318]

This is the first Lynne Ramsay film i've saw back in 2004 or 5

[@StephenEsseenyne]

Samantha Morton

[@Luvie1980]

Stephen SE9 she is great in everything

[@dariusasghari]

Cool username

[@StephenEsseenyne]

I bet you say that to everyone. 😳

[@ElGreco1541]

I love Lynn Ramsay. Morvern Callar is the only feature of hers I've yet to see because it's considerably harder to come across than her other movies. It seems like you have to deliberately search for it while Ratcatcher and We Need To Talk About Kevin have streamed on platforms that I'm subscribed to.

[@SmokeMonster]

Altered States and The Borderlands (Final Prayer) both seem to have gotten away. Maybe I'd include Alice (1988) as well. Lynch's Inland Empire never really gets picked up either. Viva (2007) gets overlooked by The Love Witch, but is perhaps the better of the two Anna Biller masterpieces.

[@crouchingotter]

Whoops. I didn’t know I was a Lynne Ramsey fan, looks like I need to chase after her filmography like I’ve done with other directors.

[@alexmcc4576]

What's with the pinky ring

[@godfreemorals]

Illuminati

[@LuvSlushie]

I love Samantha Morton, so underrated! 💕

[@jonathanmelia]

Saw Clio Barnard’s latest, DARK RIVER, last night. Kept looking at the young actress playing Ruth Wilson as a teenager in the flashback scenes. “Blimey, she don’t half look like a young Samantha Morton.” Yep, it’s her daughter, Esme Creed Miles. Star of the future....?

[@rbdriftin]

I love all of her work including Morvern Callar but Ratcatcher still remains her best film.

[@roasty80]

Samantha Morton is quality

[@thomasjennings2585]

I think Martin Scorsese’s Casino doesn’t get enough attention, it has a great story brilliant camera work for example the brilliant tracking shots through the casino itself. I always feel it’s ignored and not talked about as much due to the attention that Goodfellas got, personally I think that Casino would be considered the better of the two films if it had comes first.

[@Starkardur]

I loved Morvern Callar but I absolutely hated We Need to Talk about Kevin.

[@olivergormlie6691]

Pls review « Andrei Rublev »,the greatest film of all time in my opinion, it is absolutely mind blowing and I would love to know you think about it.

[@BunnyMan456]

Who on earth compared Morvern Callar to Trainspotting??

[@Glenuig]

No offence but I doubt any of your subscribers / viewers have not heard of Morvern callar. It was one of the best indie films of the early 2000s

[@cjwright79]

There seem to be an awful lot of comments here from people who have seen it, if you cared to read them.

[@lissardigrynbaum4034]

Nuestro comentario del film: lissardigrynbaum.blogspot.com/2015/08/ana-grynbaum-la-falsa-autora.html

[@YourLoyalDeserter]

Isn't this kind of like those annoying fans who insist the deep cut on side 2 is great and the lead single sucks?

[@Andy15991]

I only despise this film because I had to analyse the thing for Film Studies A Level.

[@dariusasghari]

That'll do it. Oh the constant rewinds and pauses to deduce the meaning of the mise-en-scene. Argh.

[@lookathatdingo335]

Andy T I have to do that now. Help me out man please. What is this film?

[@akym82810]

I remeber renting this from Blockbuster (yes it was that long ago) and at a certain point, I wasn't paying attention to the plot (such as it is) anymore and tried to guess what is the most random thing the character could do, and half the time I guessed right. One for the art-house crowd and probably not a lot of others.

[@noahmatthews1644]

I had my A level film exam question on Morvern Callar but I hated it. I was told my critical essay could not be scathing but instead praising, thus resulting in over a year worth of essays praising (with critical faculties) every aspect of the film; I don’t know why they insisted on it. After my exam was finished I still despised the pretentious nature of the film (as opposed to her other work which I quite like). However, critical appreciation somewhat remained. Mark, my question to you is, how should you critique films that you personally hate yet you objectively know is stylistically fascinating??

[@EM-xj8hy]

@The Time is Now exactly. Why would anyone hate this film? Not like it? I understand not liking it. It’s an odd film, certainly not for everyone. But how could anyone hate something so beautifully made? If you look at it’s dark core and heart there is tremendous beauty and not an ounce of pretension. Incredibly organic moody piece of cinema, all of us that are stuck at a dreary job sometimes feeling like spectators, all of us that are simply looking for something, that something could be anything, can relate to this film. Works on so many levels. Identity, study of grief, loneliness, existential dread.

[@bazzbazzley]

'You were never really here' was very tepid and made little impression. It is by no means a great or even a particularly clever piece . However, it plods through it's 90 mins or so without the audience having to ask for its money back, which is some consolation I suppose.

[@dariusasghari]

If anything, the films leaves an 'impression'. However, if you found the visceral character study insufferable, then I feel you overlooked quite a well-made film.