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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 254870" data-attributes="member: 23">Housewife, 49(10th December 2006) <img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mualcEdlhOk/TSnRUUMVUaI/AAAAAAAAAk4/uw2IVZhmWqo/s640/hw494.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />Where to even begin with this one? I must confess I expected quite a lot from Vic’s first venture into writing a straight drama. And, as I hadn’t realised until it began, a biographical drama. And I’m happy to report that this met and surpassed expectations.Nella Last is a name with which I wasn’t familiar until last night. I don’t recall ever even hearing or reading her name before. Which perhaps explains why Vic chose her as the subject of her film. In common with much of her other work, this is a celebration of the ordinary. It gives voice to that which on the surface might appear almost mundane, and shows exactly why it isn’t. One of the most difficult things for writing to do is to speak the unspoken. To share a character’s internalised feelings with the audience. The very essence of Nella’s character is her sense of isolation. She is profoundly lonely while presenting an image that says otherwise. This is compounded by the very things that tell the world she is all right: the marriage and the family. Their presence only reinforces Nella’s isolation, and this comes across to the audience in a way that’s tangible. It’s also a film that’s very of its time. We follow Nella through the entire Second World War. It’s clear that she’s had difficulties and is at times confused, and we learn she’s had a breakdown. But the responses of those around her are era-appropriate. Most don’t even recognise her vulnerability. Those who do mostly react to it in a way that’s unhealthy. Her sister-in-law mocks and belittles her, apparently bitter that Nella has had the “luxury” of opting out of life while she’s had to carry on. Nella’s husband Will creates more entrapment for her by reinforcing her weakness, telling her she won’t be able to cope with interactions with the townswomen or duties at the WVS. Things are painted with greys, though, and it becomes evident that Will has his own demons. He’s had a breakdown himself and suffers from a kind of agoraphobia, and his fear has meant restrictions for Nella. Which is what triggered her own breakdown. He’s not a bad person and can no more help his cold, detached exterior than Nella can her brave front. They’re two vulnerable people trying to survive a harsh world. While at times in the film, it seems to the objective viewer that flight from the marriage would mean freedom and growth for Nella (there are parallels with Ria Parkinson from Butterflies in Nella’s interactions with her husband and sons) it turns out the stronger thing for her to do is to stay and still try to become as much the person she wants to be as is possible. There’s an unexpectedly sweet moment in their make-do bunker during an air raid where they’re on a mattress inside a cage, speaking and preparing to sleep and Will matter of factly tells Nella how much he loves her. That she’s his world. And that he didn’t want to die without saying it. Her face registers a sadness as she absorbs it. And nothing more is said. The casting is eyebrow-raising in some way: there are none of the familiar main ensemble one has come to expect with Victoria Wood. No Julie Walters or Celia Imrie. Not even an Anne Reid, Pete Postlethwaite or Jim Broadbent.  And yet it’s perfectly cast. The cast was largely unknown to me, and I get the sense that this is deliberate: to drive home the prosaic nature of the film.  It's outside of what's become familiar and so feels uncomfortable and a little unsafe, encapsulating what sets this film apart from the films Vic did with her chums. She's on her own here, exposed and has to prove herself just as Nella does. Some of the character actors are recognisable without having strong associations with any particular role, vehicle or genre. They manage to impress - or irritate in some cases - without distracting, and without being comfortably familiar. The exception to this is Stephanie Cole who as Mrs Waite is unmistakable. And that’s another perfect choice. It needed a formidable presence to drive home how intimidated Nella was, and Stephanie also has the important underlying warmth to stop Mrs Waite from being a battleaxe. Once again, there are greys, but their connection feels mostly era-appropriate in that they are not gushy and there is an element of distance - almost mistrust - to their emerging friendship, which feels very genuine.(continued)</blockquote>

Verification: Who played Sue Ellen in Dallas?