The characters don’t have much to be happy about in Mark Jenkin’s latest feature film Happy Christmas. This is certainly not a feel good cheesy Christmas film, far from it. It is a beautifully shot melancholic film influenced by Godard's A Bout de Souffle (1960) and John Cassavetes's Shadows (1959). Set in and around the Cornish town of Penzance Happy Christmas interweaves five stories of individuals preparing themselves for a long overdue Christmas family get together.
We see Carl (Callum Mitchell) as he travels from London to Penzance on Christmas Eve, his angular gaunt face showing a multitude of emotions and dread at the prospect of the gathering. Later on as he gets chatting to a stranger at the train station (Helen Tiplady) we learn he has not returned to Cornwall in three years, why we never find out. Andy (Colin Holt) dressed as Santa Claus clutching a big bag of presents walks the long walk to where his wife (who he is separated from) and two children live, only to have the door slammed in his face. At the same time Maggie (Cynthia Jenkin) discovers her husband has passed away in a chair next to the Christmas tree and she must decide what to do. Sophie (Mae Voogd) visits her father Graham (Steve Tanner) who gives her a lift to her mother Penny’s (Jenny Beare) house, who is now remarried to David (Simon Harvey). The awkwardness as they arrive is perfectly captured.
The various narrative strands slowly become apparent and we understand the connections between the people, but little is explained, we never find out why Andy is not allowed to see his children or even how the inevitable reunion pans out. Instead we are left to interpret the long sequences with hardly any dialogue in our own way, the facial expressions of the characters ensuring we do not lose our way as we watch them struggle with feelings and emotions. There are subtly positive outcomes for the characters as we realise they deal with the situation in their own way. This is a beautifully meandering film that is deftly constructed resulting in a poetic character study, the Cornish landscape clearly representing the characters’ anguish and despair.
Much in the same vein as Joanna Hogg’s Archipelago (2010) but far more working class, Happy Christmas will not be to everyone’s liking with its reliance on visual interpretation and slow moving inconclusive stories but it is certainly an interesting piece.
Made for a mere £1500, Jenkin set himself a time frame of a year to make the film. Due to the necessity of Christmas shots, the Mousehole Christmas Lights play a pivotal role in the film, the director had to shoot all of these parts first as it was coming towards the end of the Christmas holidays. He then went out with a rough shooting schedule and no real script to speak of, just detailed character back stories, and made the rest of the film, the actors improvising their way through the individual scenarios. Four stories were shot and the fifth was used to fill in the gaps.
Christmas is a good emotional focal point for the film and Jenkin expressed that he is particularly interested in the maligned characters at Christmas. Each character has a flaw or emotional journey they are going through and it is these brilliantly written and acted characters that hold the film together. These are fascinating believable characters.
My only real issue with the film is the fact everybody is miserable for most of the film which becomes a little tedious after a while. There seems to be a trend at the moment to shoot a pretty holiday location in a bleak way that represents the characters angst and portrays the inner turmoil of a disparate family. Coming from Cornwall myself I find it frustrating that there are only two visions of such a place, a sunny seaside holiday location and a bleak windswept grey vision, nothing in between. I know cinema is known for its extremes but a different vision would be nice.
Overall Happy Christmas is an intriguing and compelling film that is visually very beautiful. There is little drama but the performances are frank and honest and most importantly believable. A nice vision although it didn’t feel very original.
Director: Mark Jenkin
Writer: Mark Jenkin
Cast: Colin Holt, Callum Mitchell
Runtime: 109 mins
Country: UK
Film Rating: 7/10
(Written for Flickfeast)
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