ANDREW HAIGH

WRITER AND DIRECTOR ANDREW HAIGH TALKS ABOUT THE END OF LOOKING, GAY REPRESENTATION ON SCREEN AND HIS NEW FILM 45 YEARS.

Interview: BEN KELLY

LOOKING FORWARD

Photography: LEON CSERNOHLAVEK

You only need to watch a slice of an Andrew Haigh film to get the gist of the British artist’s distinctive style. Nothing is missed; everything is pored over. His new movie 45 Years is a dark, sterile look at a relationship between an older married couple, who must deal with troubling secrets that have underpinned a lengthy marriage.

Focused intensely within the walls of their shared home, 45 Years stars Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay, who won Best Actress and Best Actor respectively at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival for their roles. Despite the dramatic shift in character types, the emotional explorations are not far removed from Weekend, Andrew’s celebrated breakthrough film. “I see the two films as being companion pieces. This is obviously about a man and a woman in their seventies, but it still explores similar ideas. Both films explore how we understand our lives and how we define ourselves through our relationships. When I made Weekend, I was also dealing with those themes of identity and relationships.”

Upon its release in 2011, Weekend triumphed in gay cinema circuits, but also spilled over into the mainstream and became something of a modern classic, surprising Andrew himself. “I literally thought nobody would watch it, I thought it would maybe get a tiny release in the cinema and would go straight to DVD, and just be a film that gay people sometimes watch.” It’s a simple tale, about the overtures of a modern love affair set in the unlikely surrounds of Nottingham. What was it about the film that invoked such success? “I think Weekend was released at a really interesting point. There was a lot of confusion, when gay people were asking what they wanted with their lives – whether they wanted to get married and settle down – and I think the film just hit at right the point.”