Written by Sam Clark
Certificate: 12A
Running time: 115 minutes
Director: Marianne Elliot
There are certain British dramas that are quite hard to pitch, get right and even sit through. When Mike Leigh's ''Hard Truths'' came out at the start of the year (a film about a depressed mother desperately trying to hold cope with dead), I thought it was good but was worried that it would perhaps prove too much for some people. Releasing a film like that in a period in which the world is feeling particularly dark and upsetting was brave but still felt as thought it needed to happen.
It struck me (quite powerfully I must say) how noble and unafraid that was being in terms of exploring things that need to be explored and talked about, and that it did not shy away from a sad subject matter just because people may not like it. It served as an important reminder that life is not always going to be nice and easy as you would want it to be, and that darkness does exist. The fact it did not bow down for the sake of making people happy earned my upmost respect (even until the very end).
Photo credit: IMDb/ Black Bear
I had the same feeling watching the first half of ''The Salt Path'' as I did watching ''Hard Truths'', and was hoping and praying this would have a far happier outcome than the latter. I just about coped with it for one film, but another one would have been a lot. This is a film in which there is pain, suffering and misery, but there is brightness, optimism and happiness at the end waiting for you.
''The Salt Path'' is the directorial debut of Marianne Elliot who comes from a theatre background and written by Rebecca Jenkiewicz, whose most notable work includes the brilliant Harvey Weinstein drama ''She Said'', starring Zoe Kazan and Carey Mulligan on top form. This is the true story of married couple Raynor and Moth Winn, based on Raynor Winn's bestselling memoir. Gillian Anderson plays ''Raynor'' and Jason Isaacs is her husband ''Moth''.
Photo credit: IMDb/ Black Bear
The pair are forced to pack up their home and their lives as a result of a failed investment ''Moth'' seems to have been involved with, as well as a court ordering the repossession of their home and a fatal arthritic condition that has struck ''Moth''. Carrying nothing but a tent and basic supplies, the two set off on a journey across a six-hundred and thirty-mile South West Coast Path in search for something new, whatever that may be.
''The Salt Path'' is one of the best feel-good films of the year, and a story that manages to be both upsettingly downtrodden, but also inspiringly uplifting; a combination very difficult to get right. As one would rightly expect from a story like this, this is a film in which you feel every inch of the character's pain and exhaustion, and I confess that I started to feel physically drained watching it as you should. The performances and chemistry of Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs is fantastic here, the story would not work half as well if it were not for their relationship on screen.
Photo credit: IMD/ Black Bear
All throughout the course of ''The Salt Path'', we get visual updates of how far they have come and every time you would see it, it just adds more weight to your shoulders. The further they travel, the more if is you want them to succeed. If that is not enough, there are moments in which they encounter fellow walkers on the path who are all in astonished disbelief at what they are doing, and you can't quite tell if it makes them feel worse or inspires them even further (a bit of both). It dawned on me that this would make a fitting double-bill with Steve Coogan's ''The Penguin Lessons'' that came out recently, another film that is equally funny and charming as it is dark and serious.
On a visual level, the film is absolutely breathtaking and extraordinary, even more so than I had anticipated it being. With sweeping and panning mountain shots and scenes of waves crashing ferociously into cliffs, there are moments in which the film genuinely reminded me of ''Lord of the Rings'' (and one does not simply say that lightly - pun intended) with how ambitious its scale and size was. They have clearly used these gorgeous coastal settings to their absolute advantage. All of this is accompanied by beautiful orchestral violins that worked to perfection in the moment that I loved. I do wish my auditorium's speakers were slightly louder and the lighting darker, but these did not prove too detrimental in the end. In every regard this is a pure hearted, lovely drama that remembers to stay hopeful and keep going, even when everything seems so dark.
In cinemas now
