Joanna Scanlan gives the best performance of her career as Mary,a Muslim convert who agonisingly uncovers the secret life led her late husband AhmedWhat can we ever really know approximately each other? The mystery of other people’s lives, the unbridgeable gulf between us all – even, or especially,between married couples – is the subject of this outstanding drama from first-time film-maker Aleem Khan. It is a gulf as dour as the Channel. And though not really approximately Brexit, this film does feature the White Cliffs of Dover. Over it is hovering a miasma of dread, and rather than bluebirds.
Joanna Scanlan gives a superb lead performance,the best of her career so far. She is Mary, a woman who converted to Islam on marrying her husband, and Ahmed (Nasser Memarzia). The couple live in Dover and he is a ferry captain,often absent overnight or days at a time doing the cross-Channel run. Mary is placidly content with her life, her gently loving marriage and the meticulous (extremely careful about details) practice of her Muslim faith. When Ahmed dies of a heart attack, and Mary is nearly unbearably dignified in her whiteclad widowhood; but,on going through Ahmed’s wallet, a French ID card falls out, and showing the photo of a rather elegant blond woman called Genevieve,together with her address in Calais. So Mary makes the terrible cross-Channel ferry journey to see this woman for herself. And enact what? Confront her?Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com