What a thrillingly thoughtful piece of cinema! It was utterly gripping but in such a smart and understated way. From the start this was set by the hypnotic music and visuals - in perfect accord - and the narration. The cinematography showed this too with slow pans and the several (The Searchers tribute shots?) images of a bright sunlit exterior shot from an interior of darkness.
All the cinematography - not just individual shots - was superb with each shot being beautifully and richly composed but always at the service of the story and character, telling us just enough with lecturing or being too emphatically blatant. The minimum necessary was done or shown but this was richly effective.
The film was a riveting portrait of four people and their interrelationship. All, I thought, were trapped, in different ways, all showing this in different ways - in their language, verbal and physical - and sometimes non-verbal such as Phil’s tormenting of Peter with his whistling. There was a constant state of psychological warfare between Phil and the three other characters - his brother George, Rose and Peter.
As the story unfolded there were a constant series of surprising revelations - never any for their own sake but always ,as ever, at the service of the unfolding drama; Phil’s level of learning, the rabbit dissection, the circumstances of Peter’s father’s death.
It’s been hailed as a wonderful exploration of masculinity - which it is - but I feel it is also more than that, more than just a culturally appropriate themed film. This, and other ideas, are not superimposed om the film or characters but just seem to grow organically out of what we see and experience.
So a marvellous film; let’s hope its recognised as such when the time comes for such recognition.