Trailer Watch: Archipelago directed by Joanna Hogg

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• Catherine J | January 21, 2011 3:43 AMReply

  Whoops - and most importantly - her female characters are real, complex - and part of the not always likeable. The central figure of 'Unrelated' is just that - not part of anything, childless, marginalised - Hogg's exploration of that particular female experience in our child-centred cultures is positively ground-breaking.

• Catherine J | January 21, 2011 3:19 AMReply

  At last - another Joanna Hogg film. She delivered a wonderfully understated take on relationships within a group of upper middle class Brits on holiday in Italy (if you are unfamiliar with this concept, it has great cache in the UK - perhaps an equivalent to Martha's Vineyard?) in 'Unrelated'.
  
  She set that film in something of a lost class cinematically in the modern UK film culture. Hogg avoids the stereotypes of the costume drama (that great British arr that allows us to snag that acting Oscar out from underneath the yanks on a regular basis!) Hogg, greatly influenced in her first film by Rohmer, looks to have drawn again on that development of narrative through relatively little dialogue, and through characters that may not always exude great warmth. However, their relationships breed moments of incredible, painful truth on screen - built slowly and subtly through her restrained style. This is the real Brit middle classes at work. 'Archipelago' looks to be similar territory - with Tom Hiddleston back as an ensemble player (perhaps before he comes to greater attention in the adaptation of Rattigan's 'The Deep Blue Sea'). Appropriate, I think, because 'Unrelated' and this trailer immediately reminds me of those very English, well-made plays of his era.