THE ESCAPE
UK, 2017, 101 minutes, Colour.
Gemma Arterton, Dominic Cooper, Frances Barber, Marthe Keller.
Directed by Dominic Savage.
The escape in the title is not what audiences might have imagined, yet the images of escape, especially from prisons, is apt.
This is a brief portrait of a husband and wife in their 30s. The wife is played with great sensitivity by Gemma Arterton, the husband, an ordinary and rather unimaginative man, by Dominic Cooper, playing well against type. Also in the cast in a crucial role is veteran Swiss actress, Marthe Keller.
The film spends some time with the wife, inviting the audience to empathise with her, try to understand her and her increasing depression. She is at home, doing the ordinary things at home and with the children, the boy having tantrums. There are the routines, the sexual demands of her husband, his not really appreciating what is going on, especially when she visits London for a change, buys a book on tapestries and wants to do an art course, something which he can’t quite understand.
Eventually, everything gets too much for her, asking advice from her mother, but walking out and taking a trip to Paris where a photographer flirts with her and she has a momentary affair, collapses but is helped by an older woman, Marthe Keller, who listens to her but gives her advice, acknowledging she must change her life but, if possible, with her husband.
This is a film which many wives could well identify with, a film which challenges unimaginative husbands.
1. Expectations from the title? A different kind of escape than anticipated?
2. The British settings, the town, the visits to London, home, school, the light of the London outside market? The visit to Paris, the sites, the atmosphere? The musical score?
3. A portrait of Tara, her age, relationship with her husband, with her children? Unfulfilled ambitions? Her depression and its consequences? In herself, withdrawn, in relationship to Mark, the sexual relationship? Withdrawing from him? The tantrums of the boy? The effect of the visit to London, wanting to do the art course, the fascination of the tapestries book? Mark and his reaction? Everything becoming too much for her? Walking out, buying a ticket to Paris, wandering, the encounter with the photographer, the affair with him, his being married, the effect on her, breaking the relationship? The effect of Paris, the different atmosphere, the art, tapestries? Upset in the street, taken in by Anna, confiding in Anna, and her wise words? Urging her to change her life, but, if possible, with her husband? Her return? The possibilities for the future?
4. Mark, very ordinary, going to work, the pressures of life, earning money? His relationship with Tara, love for her, not understanding her, his growing concern, outbursts of anger? His ability with the children, calming them, the boy polishing the car…? The effect of Tara leaving, his bewilderment, the messy house and how he would cope? Her return?
5. The going to see her mother, strong words, the lack of communication, her mother not looking after the children?
6. The encounter with the photographer, his flirting, the photos, the conversations, her making up a story, the night together? The effect on her?
7. Anna, the older woman, her kindness, listening, talking, the advice?
8. Married couples, crises, ability and inability to cope?
