Undescribable Perfection

Excellent but underrated film

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

English screenwriter, producer and director Michael Winterbottom's nineteenth feature film which he co-wrote with French screenwriter Laurence Coriat, premiered in the Shows section at the 39th Telluride Film Festival in 2012, was screened in the Masters section at the 37th Toronto International Film Festival in 2012, was shot on location in Norfolk, England over a period of five years and is a United Kingdom production which was produced by producer Melissa Parmenter. It tells the story about a woman named Karen who lives in a house in a rural county in the East of England with her sons named Shaun and Robert and daughters named Stephanie and Katrina. Karen's husband named Ian whom she and his children are waiting to get back home has been in prison for several years and is serving his sentence.Distinctly and finely directed by UK filmmaker Michael Winterbottom, this quietly paced fictional tale which is narrated from the mother, father and children's viewpoints, draws a tangible and intimate portrayal of four children who are missing their father and a hard working mother whom is struggling to hold her family together whilst regularly visiting her man who is incarcerated. While notable for it's naturalistic milieu depictions, sterling cinematography by cinematographers James Clarke, Sean Bobbitt, Marcel Zyskind, Simon Tindall and Anne Marie Lean Vercoe, use of sound and realism, this narrative-driven story where the continuity is created by repetitions and abrupt editing depicts two interrelated studies of character and contains a great score by English composer Michael Nyman.This atmospheric, conversational and romantic drama about an English family which is set in the county of Norfolk in the East of England and where a matrimony is challenged by the distance that has and is keeping a husband and wife apart due to his past criminal actions, is impelled and reinforced by it's cogent narrative structure, subtle character development and continuity, natural humor and dialog, ordinary and charming characters, the modest and sincere acting performances by English actor John Simm, Scottish actress Shirley Henderson and the pivotal acting performances by the child actors and actresses. A lyrical, compassionate, mindful and heartrending labour of love from a great European filmmaker which gained the FIPRESCI Award for Best Film at the 23rd Stockholm International Film Festival in 2012.

From director Michael Winterbottom (24 Hour Party People, A Mighty Heart), I heard bits and pieces about this feature length drama done in a relatively alternative way, where it is all filmed in real time, and it certainly adds to the realism of the story. Basically, filmed over a real period of five years, and with all four children played by real siblings, this tells the story of mother Karen (Shirley Henderson) who cares for her our children, Shaun (Shaun Kirk), Robert (Robert Kirk), Katrina (Katrina Kirk) and Stephanie (Stephanie Kirk) while their father Ian (John Simm) serves his time in prison for drug smuggling (although his crime may in fact be unspecified). When Karen does go with her children to visit Ian the journey is always long and laborious because he moves from prison to prison, and there is also a journey to get the children to school and back, but life goes on as usual. Day to day life for the family has repetitive routines, such as getting up early for the visits, brushing their teeth, working at the pub, eating meals, attending school, watching television and other mundane things, but Karen being lonely is also sleeping with Eddie (Darren Tighe) from the pub. Ian enjoys the visits from his wife and children very much, and despite being with bored with hardly anything to do in prison he always looks forward to hearing what his family are up to since they last saw him, the children grow fast and he misses spending personal time with his wife, and she feels the same. It is towards the end of his sentence that Ian gets the opportunity to spend a full day with Karen, Shaun, Robert, Katrina and Stephanie, so they go to their favourite spot the beach, before taking the children to town and the couple finally getting a room to be intimate in a short time. Finally the day comes when Ian is released having served his time, he is happy to see Karen and the children and be able to go home with them, he familiarises himself with life back where he belongs, but he is upset when Karen confesses her infidelity, but he forgives her in the end and they are all happy. Also starring Polly Kossowicz as School Teacher, Valerie Lilley as Grandmother and Peter Gunn as Shop Manager. Henderson gives a believably honest performance as the wife who is bored and needing her husband back and does everything she can to support and care well for her children, Simm gets his moments as the father who looks forward to every time he has with his family and looks forward to his release, and the four children who we see grow in real time are cute and endearing. The fact that this film was made over a period of five years is a very interesting concept, it definitely helps you believe the story of a troubled but loving family, the really related children ageing on screen is one of the key parts of what makes this film feel like a documentary, I agree it is emotionally draining in some way throughout, but it is an exceptional drama. Very good!

Michael Winterbottom has made many fine movies humanising the routinely despised - asylum seekers, alleged terrorists, and so on - but with 'Everyday', his portrait of a man with a long term prison sentence, he might possibly have done better to cast a harsher light on his protagonists. John Simm's gentle character hardly seems like a major criminal; and the struggle of his wife to raise their family alone is softened by its setting in the beautiful (and beautifully lit) English countryside. The drama centres on visits, rather than the routine of prison life, and uses a fair amount of soft-focus music . It's a sensitive but surprisingly unacerbic portrait of the consequences of being sent down; in places its moving, but its also clearly non-political - don't look here for an analysis of "broken Britain".

It's not very often that I enjoy a film in which very little actually happens! But "Everyday" is an exception. I saw it recently when it premiered at the BFI London Film Festival. It's a thoughtful, understated film with excellent performances. It held my interest right up until the end. And I enjoyed it very much. Filmed over 5 years, "Everyday" is a worthy but never dull film about how a mother and her four young children cope while her husband and their father serves a term of imprisonment. Karen (Shirley Henderson) spends the time accompanying her children to and from school, trying to keep the family's home-life on a reasonably even keel and visiting her husband Ian (John Simm) with the children. At the same time, she is trying to hold down her job as a barmaid at the local pub. She is also having an affair with one of her customers. "Everyday" examines the impact of Ian's absence on his wife and children. It does so in a naturalistic and unassuming way. There are no histrionics or very dramatic scenes. What we get are quietly effective vignettes that show how disruptive a husband and father's extended absence from home can be, particularly on young children. The acting is first rate. Henderson and Simm are very good indeed, as are all four youngsters who play the couple's children. The direction and the camera-work are also very effective. "Everyday" is a visually confident and a very impressive film. 8/10.