FINALLY, AN ARTISTIC FILM FOR MY CONSCIENCE : "THE SISTERS"

Ok so my new internship has virtually nothing to do with films actually. Which feels weird. Not bad, don’t get me wrong. But still strange. So I’m kind of glad I actually have part time work with films. Oh the time may well come where I give those up but at least I’m letting go of the film work slowly. You know, no withdrawal symptoms. The Sisters initially appeared in front of me in the guise of work. But I enjoyed it a little too much for it to be just work. Plus, as films go, it’s a pretty serious film. So see, I’m making a slow return to “grown up” films. Very, very slowly that is.

The Sisters is loosely based on the story of the same name by great Russian writer Chekhov. It was first a play –you can feel this very clearly in some places – and it is now a film. I mean, it has been for a while. But we’re actually getting round to it now.

So, The Sisters is basically about families. There’s a minefield for you if there ever was one. There is usually one patriarch / matriarch etc that holds the family together in one form or another. Appearances are kept up and everyone knows / and keeps to their own places. This may be good, this may be bad, the point is it keeps things going somehow. But then, the “glue” dies. As does the father of the Prior family. Their mother had died some time ago, hence the four siblings are left alone in the world to come up with their own coping mechanisms. These mechanisms will work for a time but then it happens. One dreaded family occasion brings a particularly old strain of feelings and emotions boiling to the surface. And once it is tapped into, it is absolutely unstoppable. Old hurts, ancient grudges and dark secrets all come bubbling to the surface at once. How and where will the night end? Will family ties – not to mention the individual family members - survive this battering built up from the angst of so many years of problems being swept under the carpet?

Well, I reckon you can pretty much imagine the structure of this film. Like I said in the beginning its roots as a theatre play show themselves very clearly. There is a lot of talking. And when I say a lot... Yeah. However, what we are talking about right here is really intelligent quick-fire stuff. Psychology comes into play quite a lot and you have to make a dual effort – not only to follow what is said but the reasons behind it. I kid you not gentle reader, this is not one to watch on a Friday night when you are tired and want to unwind.

But don’t let that dishearten you. The overall group performance here is so good that I honestly defy you to not get involved in the storyline, take sides with and sympathise with the characters and generally get very hot under the collar about the whole affair. The story is not a new one, perhaps. But at the same time, it is a story that resonates very true. If not the exact secrets being kept, the dynamic, the emotions on various different scales. I have a feeling you will find a lot of yourself and your family in this story. Do check it out.