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Film Of The Week Love in vain

MARIA DUARTE recommends a warts-and-all story of a tempestuous relationship

Pink Wall (15)
Directed by Tom Cullen

TOLD in six scenes over six years from the birth to the death of their love, Pink Wall is a fascinating and intense study of a couple’s relationship.

Written and directed by British actor-turned director Tom Cullen, its non-linear structure jumps in and out of different stages of the relationship as you bear witness to their ups and downs.

The film opens in year four when Jenna (Tatiana Maslany) and Leon (Jay Duplass), two Americans in Britain, are having a meal with Jenna’s family in a Welsh country pub and are reminiscing about how Jenna used to boss her brother around as kids.

Leon jokes of how he calls her “the enforcer” to which her brother responds that it sounds like he’s “pussy whipped.” Jenny comes to Leon’s defence and an argument ensues in which they reprimand each other for the way they treat each other and make each other feel.

The action then moves to year one and the moment they first meet and a spark ignites between them on Jenna’s wild night out clubbing with her best friend. It’s all exciting and new and they’re eager to get to know each other and confess their hopes and dreams.

Cullen’s impressive debut feature is a fresh and honest exploration of a relationship, warts and all. It provides snapshots of blissful moments and bitter failures and recriminations as Jenna and Leon grow closer together and then apart as their aspirations diverge.

She wants to advance her career while he wants to be a father and continue as a photographer’s assistant.

Maslany’s and Duplass’s blinding performances make you invest in their characters’ journey and romance throughout in an intimate yet brutally realistic film which shows that Cullen has a promising future behind the camera too.

 

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