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Product Description
With her son Edward (Tom Hiddleston star of the forthcoming Thor & The War Horse) about to embark on a volunteer trip to Africa, doting mother Patricia wants to give him a good send-off, and gathers her family together for a getaway to a holiday home on idyllic Tresco, one of the Isles of Scilly. Edward's father's attendance is eagerly anticipated, though sister Cynthia appears to be there under some duress, going through dutiful motions. Gradually, deep fractures within the family set-up begin to surface in this eagerly awaitied second feature from director Joanna Hogg
Product Description
United Kingdom released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: LANGUAGES: English ( Dolby Digital 5.1 ), English ( Dolby Digital Stereo ), WIDESCREEN (1.78:1), SPECIAL FEATURES: Commentary, Interactive Menu, Scene Access, Trailer(s), SYNOPSIS: With her son Edward (Tom Hiddleston - star of the forthcoming Thor & The War Horse) about to embark on a volunteer trip to Africa, doting mother Patricia wants to give him a good send-off, and gathers her family together for a getaway to a holiday home on idyllic Tresco, one of the Isles of Scilly. Edward's father's attendance is eagerly anticipated, though sister Cynthia appears to be there under some duress, going through dutiful motions. Gradually, deep fractures within the family set-up begin to surface in this eagerly awaitied second feature from director Joanna Hogg. ...Archipelago ( Joanna Hogg Project II ) ( Untitled Joanna Hogg Project 2009 )
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
27 of 31 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Joanna Hogg's first feature, Unrelated, was so interesting because it was so different. This movie is much the same, and leaves you wondering what she's up to, and how much of her real vision she was able to realise on the screen. Although the movie makes a strong first impression, and lingers in the mind, it is so far away from most entertainment products that one really does have to rethink how to look at it. It's easy to wonder whether there is an element or two missing, but that may not be the case at all.
Her subject is the nuclear family and its dysfunction. The most interesting character seems to be the young man who intends to do charity work in Africa. Most people can empathise with a person in their mid-twenties who feels quietly furious that he is expected to settle down to a tedious career for the next forty-five years. This person is no different, yet he doubts that any future can work, doubts himself and his own powers. On the other hand, the other characters are dealt with so sharply that their lives seem tragic and pointless. A mother in an unhappy marriage seems almost ready for death, as she paints pointless pictures and exists, merely. An unfulfilled daughter seems, likewise, to be living an empty life. Though the characters hardly drink any alcohol, they manage to seem concussed by it, unable to speak out. Paralysed by indecision, they inhabit a world drawn, with great subtlety, by Joanna Hogg, in which the presence of a picture on the wall tells the characters things that are real about themselves but which they cannot see. The comments made on 'art' and 'artists' are hilarious, and they reminded me that none of my crap teachers at school ever realised they were crap.
In a world where we are spoon-fed by entertainment, cued to laugh, feel sad or to await the outcome of suspense, this movie gives us so little to go on that it's easy to think, 'she's saying that everything is pointless, we're all trapped', and then, 'what would happen if one of these people really came to life?' Nothing is neat, everything is ambivalent and tentative. It's a movie about questions, about how we must live, what we are entitled to expect, how to see ourselves clearly, whom to trust. This is powerful stuff, created with an artistic integrity rare in film. It is interesting that the movie has such a small distribution, and that this kind of thing is a minority sport. Perhaps that's the only way it can be.
Her subject is the nuclear family and its dysfunction. The most interesting character seems to be the young man who intends to do charity work in Africa. Most people can empathise with a person in their mid-twenties who feels quietly furious that he is expected to settle down to a tedious career for the next forty-five years. This person is no different, yet he doubts that any future can work, doubts himself and his own powers. On the other hand, the other characters are dealt with so sharply that their lives seem tragic and pointless. A mother in an unhappy marriage seems almost ready for death, as she paints pointless pictures and exists, merely. An unfulfilled daughter seems, likewise, to be living an empty life. Though the characters hardly drink any alcohol, they manage to seem concussed by it, unable to speak out. Paralysed by indecision, they inhabit a world drawn, with great subtlety, by Joanna Hogg, in which the presence of a picture on the wall tells the characters things that are real about themselves but which they cannot see. The comments made on 'art' and 'artists' are hilarious, and they reminded me that none of my crap teachers at school ever realised they were crap.
In a world where we are spoon-fed by entertainment, cued to laugh, feel sad or to await the outcome of suspense, this movie gives us so little to go on that it's easy to think, 'she's saying that everything is pointless, we're all trapped', and then, 'what would happen if one of these people really came to life?' Nothing is neat, everything is ambivalent and tentative. It's a movie about questions, about how we must live, what we are entitled to expect, how to see ourselves clearly, whom to trust. This is powerful stuff, created with an artistic integrity rare in film. It is interesting that the movie has such a small distribution, and that this kind of thing is a minority sport. Perhaps that's the only way it can be.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
The reviews of this film are for me almost as interesting as the film itself; especially the negative ones, as there seems to be a wish to expose the film as an "emperor's new clothes" phenomenon, and to go beyond subjective criticism of the film itself in order to characterise those who have expressed a positive opinion as either wilfully misleading or bamboozled by the desire to appear arty or pretentious. The need to attack holders of a contrary view, and to congratulate each other on having "found out" the film, might say something more about the reviewers themselves than the inherent qualities (or otherwise) of the film.
So (getting off the fence) I really liked this film, and I admire Joanna Hogg for producing an original and thought-provoking chamber piece; setting a contemporary drama (as she did with her previous film Unrelated) amongst the upper middle classes is going to be a red rag to a bull for some, and I think the reviews just go to show that class still plays a fairly large role in the nation's psyche.
As the title suggests, the characters in the film are lost in their own familial and personal archipelago, cast off from each other like the isles of Scilly through their inability to communicate emotionally; money and the benefits of a privileged upbringing are no guarantees to happiness.
That being said, there's no doubt the film is not "fast", nor does it wear its dramatic heart on it's sleeve (but anyone who's sat in hideous embarrassment around a dinner table while a blazing row takes place in the next room will be getting their moneys' worth of angst during this film), and neither does it attempt to show off Tresco as a desirable holiday destination. If you like slow-burning drama, and a British film that isn't afraid to take a road less travelled, then you might like this.
So (getting off the fence) I really liked this film, and I admire Joanna Hogg for producing an original and thought-provoking chamber piece; setting a contemporary drama (as she did with her previous film Unrelated) amongst the upper middle classes is going to be a red rag to a bull for some, and I think the reviews just go to show that class still plays a fairly large role in the nation's psyche.
As the title suggests, the characters in the film are lost in their own familial and personal archipelago, cast off from each other like the isles of Scilly through their inability to communicate emotionally; money and the benefits of a privileged upbringing are no guarantees to happiness.
That being said, there's no doubt the film is not "fast", nor does it wear its dramatic heart on it's sleeve (but anyone who's sat in hideous embarrassment around a dinner table while a blazing row takes place in the next room will be getting their moneys' worth of angst during this film), and neither does it attempt to show off Tresco as a desirable holiday destination. If you like slow-burning drama, and a British film that isn't afraid to take a road less travelled, then you might like this.
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
First, two disclaimers: I am a fan of many 'arty' films, including many on the Artificial Eye label, and I love Tresco and the Isles of Scilly, where Archipelago was filmed. On paper this should have been my ideal film - an art house piece set on my favourite place in the world, and I looked forward to it with huge anticipation.
This film was a huge let-down on every level.
Words can hardly express my disappointment, but let me try: this has to be the most boring film ever made - the landscape, the set and the characters are all underused to a criminal degree and the 'story' is so thin as to be non-existent. The lack of a story could be excused if there were any other redeeming features, such as interesting characters or a strong sense of time, place or other atmosphere to revel in but there was nothing.
It is difficult to point a camera at Tresco or anywhere on the Isles of Scilly and fail to take an attractive picture but, somehow, the director managed to make one of the most beautiful places on earth look drab - but not drab in an interesting way like the moors of Wuthering Heights - just drab, which is incredible given the location.
Doubtless it is highly post-modern to avoid both obvious beauty and a story and perhaps I am being too old-fashioned but, it seems to me at least, that if you take away everything and leave nothing in its place then what is the point?
This film was a huge let-down on every level.
Words can hardly express my disappointment, but let me try: this has to be the most boring film ever made - the landscape, the set and the characters are all underused to a criminal degree and the 'story' is so thin as to be non-existent. The lack of a story could be excused if there were any other redeeming features, such as interesting characters or a strong sense of time, place or other atmosphere to revel in but there was nothing.
It is difficult to point a camera at Tresco or anywhere on the Isles of Scilly and fail to take an attractive picture but, somehow, the director managed to make one of the most beautiful places on earth look drab - but not drab in an interesting way like the moors of Wuthering Heights - just drab, which is incredible given the location.
Doubtless it is highly post-modern to avoid both obvious beauty and a story and perhaps I am being too old-fashioned but, it seems to me at least, that if you take away everything and leave nothing in its place then what is the point?
Most Recent Customer Reviews
One of my Favourites but not for Everybody.
I have now watched Archipelago three times- which i'm sure some people who gave it one star will find hard to accept!- and i can definitely say it's in my top 5 films. Read more
Published 8 hours ago by Anouk
meditative family drama
A slow burning and beautifully filmed drama about family tensions and histories. The acting is wonderful and although it is a sparse film leaving much space for audience... Read more
Published 18 days ago by A Customer
What was the point?
Three of us sat down to watch this, my partner and I are both in our 50s and our teenage daughter. My partner had read some good reviews but niether our daughter or myself had the... Read more
Published 1 month ago by x_guru
The most boring film ever
I watched this film mainly because I know Tresco well and thought its location would add to the interest, recognising exactly where it ws filmed, and it had some good reviews. Read more
Published 4 months ago by book groupie
One of the best of 2011
How refreshing to watch a film where the camera moves only if it has to, where the editing allows each scene to develop in a way that feels completely unforced and where the... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Dariush Alavi
prickling with the static of family tensions
I loved the colour palette of this film that set a beautiful backdrop to the acting out of family strife. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Grapefruit Pip
ottimo affare
ottimo venditore, puntuale nella consegna!essendo stato il mio primo acquisto su amazon.uk, mi ha lasciato senza dubbio una
buona impressione!
buona impressione!
Published 5 months ago by marzia
Not For Everyone, But I Loved It - Like an English Rohmer Film
The extremely mixed reviews here on amazon and elsewhere immediately flag up 'Archipelago' as a film which really divides opinions in the direction of one star out of five - or... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Colin C
No man is an island?
This is an amazingly unusual and hilarious film. Most of us who have been on 'forced' family holidays will recognise some of the elements. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Rodwell
Guilty Pleasure
I have to admit I'm not the biggest fan of Joanna Hogg's direction with film. Really, this is a movie that has been taken from a home video camera and played back to people who... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Shades
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