This article is 7 years old

Manchester by the Sea Encapsulates Grief

Entertainment

Kenneth Lonergan is unapologetically beholden to reality. Little else might we ask of an artist; little else might we hope they lack. Manchester by the Sea, the third feature film by well-respected director Kenneth Lonergan, is his triumphant return to the cinema after a five-year hiatus. The film is decidedly about a man who, despite his best efforts, “just can’t beat it.” He shows that there are some tragedies from which nothing is to be gained. The hero does not change, nor learn anything new. There is nothing but pain in the dust.

However, Lonergan is no miserablist (after all, he is beholden to reality). A man dies, and his brother, Lee Chandler, brilliantly portrayed by Casey Affleck, must return to his hometown and care for the bereaved son, while also facing a repressed past. Within the confines of this gloomy plot, the magic is found in the inevitable humor of it all. The interactions between Lee and the son, Patrick (Lucas Hedges), are the story’s primary source of laughs. For them, the world keeps on keeping-on; keeps spinning, even after it ends. Lee must manage the logistics of the funeral. Patrick continues to attend band practice. He maintains relations with his two girlfriends, and more. Just like before, life transpires, and things are funny. The death of the father looms, no doubt; but it is not so large so as to blot out the sun.

It would have been far simpler, as a storyteller, to present an existence of utter and complete pain. Consider: if a character fails to find a speck of hope in the face of death, it would seem logical to assume that the death was inconsolably painful, and thus, the more powerful. Yet, that would negate the more common, more accurate, response to death: attempting to cope. At the New York Film Festival in October, Lonergan himself stated, “I’ve never seen there being a tremendous dividing line between comedy and tragedy. Even if it’s the worst of the worst, it’s not happening to everyone. It might just be happening to you, or to someone you know, while the rest of the world is going on doing things that are beautiful, or funny, or material, or practical.” We recognize the acknowledgment that life goes on. In our hearts, we know that there is still laughter to be found.

It’s a delicate balancing act. The challenge of revealing humor in death while not smothering the pain is a gainful practice in truth. The storyteller who attempts to dramatize life by presenting a reality that is not fore mostly truthful, defeats herself.  Real drama exists within even the most ordinary of lives.

Casey Affleck and Michelle Williams, the actress who plays Randi, Lee’s ex-wife, give wonderfully naturalistic performances. In fact, the entire cast delivers an altogether lifelike and impressive show, which enables the success of Lonergan’s composition. Affleck, in particular, delivers a standout performance. He oscillates between persistent execution, in his unremitting navigation of life, and searing, repressed anguish.

Great films tend to be attributed solely to the exceptional director. Manchester by the Sea is at once one of those films a director’s film, and an achievement shared by the cast and crew, all of whom took great care to recognize the power in ordinary life.