Sindre Kaspersen
English screenwriter, producer and director Michael Winterbottom's nineteenth feature film which he co-wrote with French screenwriter Laurence Coriat, premiered in the Shows section at the 39th Telluride Film Festival in 2012, was screened in the Masters section at the 37th Toronto International Film Festival in 2012, was shot on location in Norfolk, England over a period of five years and is a United Kingdom production which was produced by producer Melissa Parmenter. It tells the story about a woman named Karen who lives in a house in a rural county in the East of England with her sons named Shaun and Robert and daughters named Stephanie and Katrina. Karen's husband named Ian whom she and his children are waiting to get back home has been in prison for several years and is serving his sentence.Distinctly and finely directed by UK filmmaker Michael Winterbottom, this quietly paced fictional tale which is narrated from the mother, father and children's viewpoints, draws a tangible and intimate portrayal of four children who are missing their father and a hard working mother whom is struggling to hold her family together whilst regularly visiting her man who is incarcerated. While notable for it's naturalistic milieu depictions, sterling cinematography by cinematographers James Clarke, Sean Bobbitt, Marcel Zyskind, Simon Tindall and Anne Marie Lean Vercoe, use of sound and realism, this narrative-driven story where the continuity is created by repetitions and abrupt editing depicts two interrelated studies of character and contains a great score by English composer Michael Nyman.This atmospheric, conversational and romantic drama about an English family which is set in the county of Norfolk in the East of England and where a matrimony is challenged by the distance that has and is keeping a husband and wife apart due to his past criminal actions, is impelled and reinforced by it's cogent narrative structure, subtle character development and continuity, natural humor and dialog, ordinary and charming characters, the modest and sincere acting performances by English actor John Simm, Scottish actress Shirley Henderson and the pivotal acting performances by the child actors and actresses. A lyrical, compassionate, mindful and heartrending labour of love from a great European filmmaker which gained the FIPRESCI Award for Best Film at the 23rd Stockholm International Film Festival in 2012.
[email protected]
The film appears to have been shot in Lincolnshire and Norfolk, much in the Stamford area, and focuses on one family over five years, as they wait for the father to be released from prison. This is not one of those depressing 'true life' stories, but is a non-judgemental documentary style piece about a family living with an edge of expectation of what's round the corner, with real life pending for the moment. The film benefits from being shot over five years, as there are no changes of actors as the children age. John Simm and Shirley Henderson are completely believable ordinary parents, and the natural performances of the children, who are real-life siblings, help create the documentary feel.
paul2001sw-1
Michael Winterbottom has made many fine movies humanising the routinely despised - asylum seekers, alleged terrorists, and so on - but with 'Everyday', his portrait of a man with a long term prison sentence, he might possibly have done better to cast a harsher light on his protagonists. John Simm's gentle character hardly seems like a major criminal; and the struggle of his wife to raise their family alone is softened by its setting in the beautiful (and beautifully lit) English countryside. The drama centres on visits, rather than the routine of prison life, and uses a fair amount of soft-focus music . It's a sensitive but surprisingly unacerbic portrait of the consequences of being sent down; in places its moving, but its also clearly non-political - don't look here for an analysis of "broken Britain".
Pi_
I saw this movie at the Channel 4 building last night, I went with high hopes as I'm a fan of Michael Winterbottom's other work, but I wasn't really sure what to expect as all of his movies are quite different.This movie focuses on a young family who are dealing with the fact that their father is doing a five year stretch in jail. We see these children grow up over the whole movie as it was shot over 5 years which just adds to the realism. The acting is outstanding, very natural, in fact it's hard to believe they aren't a real family. It shows the struggles that the children face not having their father in their lives and how they adapt to that. We see the father in jail who doesn't really take on board how difficult it is for this family to travel to see him, he has his visits and wants every single minute with his family, but as the viewer we have a better understanding of what it really takes to see him. The mother just gets on with, she's incredibly strong but my heart went out to her when I thought of myself being in that same position. I was hooked until the last minute, laughing then crying, then laughing again. This is no glamorisation of prison, it's just the real mundane, human stuff and I found that extremely refreshing.