Solas

I watched this little gem, English title: Alone, last night. At the beginning I wasn't so sure about it as the heroine seemed too one-sided and a bit of a stereotype: she was short temper, bitter and anguish all the time, whether it was at the hospital when she was given some gentle advice by her father's agreeable doctor, or in her depressingly grim flat where she was supposed to help her visiting mum to settle down between visiting hospital. She had in fact a pretty face (and we were also given a glimpse of her trimmed body many would die to have) but whenever she was in her 'second skin', the loose fitting, masculine and ugly jacket, she shrunk into a trapped animal that matched her dirty little flat: all grim, with no sign of life. When she was on her own, she drank and smoked as if it was her second nature. She was pitiful but she did not deserve our sympathy. Her mother on the other hand was like an angel trapped in an used, out of control body, who took in all the abuse from both her ungrateful daughter and her hospitalised but possessive husband. We didn't know how but gradually she turned the tiny flat, effortlessly, into a place with flowers, warmness and a place to rest. To top that all, she found time to knit for both her undeserving daughter and the doctor's new born, while she was seen quietly developing a friendship with her daughter's downstairs neighbour.

The film didn't give much on how come such a nurturing, and creative in a typical feminine way, mother would have raised such a grumpy and bored daughter, a monster like animal who allowed herself to be consumed by hatred. The only hint, which was repeated on several occasions was the alcoholic and abusive gambling father would hit his offspring whenever the wife was not an immediately available victim. But surely, one would ask, if the mother was so angelic, the relationship between mother and daughter would not have been so frosted and even hostile, and that the caring and creative nature would rub off to the daughter? OK, the mother had let the daughter down in that she had tolerated all her life such a violent husband and seemed powerless when the children were caught in the domestic violence, but why hadn't the daughter picked up something from the resourceful mother? Why the daughter ended up just like her monster father?

But if we can accept that perhaps this is life, that there are times we take after exactly the person we dislike or even hate, then we can start to appreciate the film better. To me, the best parts of the film are the relationship that developed between mother and her daughter's widower neighbour; and that between the neighbour and the daughter after the mother's departure. Both lonely though in different ways, the two elderly soon found comfort in each other's companionship and for a short period, their everyday life evolved with helping each other out in the most mundane yet comforting way as if they were old couples. The performance by Anthony who played the widower was the highlight of the film. He had an expressive face but his performance was always understated but effective. Having lived alone for a while, he developed near 'human' relationship with his dog who understood his master implicitly and would make gestures to console him, which in return gave the widower a natural outlet for his feelings, be it tenderness, excitement, disappointment, frustration or longing for the continuation of the friendship. The relationship between him, a widower and her, a virtual 'widow' was most appropriate of their age and circumstances - who after a lot of sufferings, understood that in spite of themselves, they had to accept life as it was and not to argue with it. They resigned to their obligations and 'fate' but not with too much anguish, or at least not so apparent and strong as what the younger generation, the daughter, who believed she had been done a bad deal by life and hated the whole world for it.

The efforts from the mother's side however eventually left marks on the daughter. When the widower took the first step by visiting her (having been rejected by her mother by a firm promise of any kind), the daughter took the cue to invite him in and a most unexpected but beautiful relationship was developed despite the clashes of their personalities. The last part of the film was one of the most humorous, witty and warm in cinema. Still in her helmet (for believing that she had seen all and that she was the one that had suffered the most), her throne was rounded down bit by bit by the lonely but loving, and indeed handsome widower. It was here that the character of the heroine become more convincing when a more tolerant and human side evolved in the constant fight, negotiation and renegotiation with the widower. The whole scene was shot in the widower's flat which looked warm and inviting, a great contrast to the daughter's flat before her mother's visit.