NOBODY HAS TO KNOW
****
Directors: Bouli Lanners
Screenwriters: Bouli Lanners
Principal cast:
Michelle Fairley
Bouli Lanners
Andrew Still
Cal Macaninch
Clovis Cornillac
Julian Glover
Country: UK/Belgium/France
Classification: M
Runtime: 99 mins.
Australian release date: 7 April 2022.
Coincidentally, two films about memory and how it can play tricks on the mind opened in Australia this week and, while they are both mainly in English, their directors are from Asia and Europe. One is Memoria, by the enigmatic Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul, and the other is Nobody Has to Know by Belgian director Bouli Lanners. Both auteurs wrote their own screenplays, too, but Lanners has gone even further because he also plays the lead male role in his movie. Of the pair, Lanners’ film has the more traditional plot, being a love story with a twist. The former title is much more puzzling.
Nobody Has to Know is set and shot on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland, and the wild, beautiful terrain and harsh weather are important characters because the film shows us how the elements have shaped the way of life of the inhabitants. These are people of few words, perhaps because their speech is likely to be blown away as soon as it is uttered. Better to say less then. They’re also devout Presbyterians, so it’s a community that keeps its emotions in check. When Phil (Lanners) has a stroke, he’s left okay physically but can’t remember anything much about his life before he collapsed. He’s a middle-aged Belgian man who’d moved to Scotland some time earlier and who works as a farmhand for a local landowner. He gets on well with the farmer’s son but the old man has little time for foreigners so, when Phil returns from hospital, the farmer’s mature-aged daughter, Millie (Michelle Fairley), takes it upon herself to reacquaint Phil with his work, his home and his surroundings. Phil, of course, has to rely on the few people who know him to tell him who he is and what he was like before his amnesia and has no choice but to accept what he is told, although his doctor says that his memory loss may be temporary. Thus, when Millie reveals to him that they were secretly in a relationship, he has no reason to doubt her.
Why would a Belgian make a film in Scotland? “To begin with, I wanted to make a movie in Scotland simply because it’s a country I love. I’ve been going there practically every year for the past 30 years. So, at least once in my life I had to make a movie there,” Lanners explains. He continues, saying, “strangely, since the age of six or seven, I’ve been convinced that I come from Scotland. Neither my parents nor I know how I came up with this, but I was certain that my grandmother was Scottish!” The result is Nobody Has to Know, a moving story that deals with some pretty big themes, life and death not least among them. “It … speaks about the time we have left to live our lives on earth. Because death is present for all of us - so we must enjoy every moment.” As part of that examination, it looks at the possibility of love blooming late in life and the importance of truth in human relationships. Lanners and Fairley (who some will recognise from TV’s Game of Thrones, in which she played Lady Stark) are beautifully cast to play the autumnal lovers and it’s a pleasure to watch these two consummate actors change as their characters emerge from their dour, protective shells and blossom under the influence of romance. It’s not all beer and skittles though (or should that be whisky and haggis?) and Lanners’ script throws up some unexpected curve balls. It’s a highly original idea, one that will keep you guessing until the film’s moving climax. Make sure you have a tissue in your pocket!
Screenwriters: Bouli Lanners
Principal cast:
Michelle Fairley
Bouli Lanners
Andrew Still
Cal Macaninch
Clovis Cornillac
Julian Glover
Country: UK/Belgium/France
Classification: M
Runtime: 99 mins.
Australian release date: 7 April 2022.
Coincidentally, two films about memory and how it can play tricks on the mind opened in Australia this week and, while they are both mainly in English, their directors are from Asia and Europe. One is Memoria, by the enigmatic Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul, and the other is Nobody Has to Know by Belgian director Bouli Lanners. Both auteurs wrote their own screenplays, too, but Lanners has gone even further because he also plays the lead male role in his movie. Of the pair, Lanners’ film has the more traditional plot, being a love story with a twist. The former title is much more puzzling.
Nobody Has to Know is set and shot on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland, and the wild, beautiful terrain and harsh weather are important characters because the film shows us how the elements have shaped the way of life of the inhabitants. These are people of few words, perhaps because their speech is likely to be blown away as soon as it is uttered. Better to say less then. They’re also devout Presbyterians, so it’s a community that keeps its emotions in check. When Phil (Lanners) has a stroke, he’s left okay physically but can’t remember anything much about his life before he collapsed. He’s a middle-aged Belgian man who’d moved to Scotland some time earlier and who works as a farmhand for a local landowner. He gets on well with the farmer’s son but the old man has little time for foreigners so, when Phil returns from hospital, the farmer’s mature-aged daughter, Millie (Michelle Fairley), takes it upon herself to reacquaint Phil with his work, his home and his surroundings. Phil, of course, has to rely on the few people who know him to tell him who he is and what he was like before his amnesia and has no choice but to accept what he is told, although his doctor says that his memory loss may be temporary. Thus, when Millie reveals to him that they were secretly in a relationship, he has no reason to doubt her.
Why would a Belgian make a film in Scotland? “To begin with, I wanted to make a movie in Scotland simply because it’s a country I love. I’ve been going there practically every year for the past 30 years. So, at least once in my life I had to make a movie there,” Lanners explains. He continues, saying, “strangely, since the age of six or seven, I’ve been convinced that I come from Scotland. Neither my parents nor I know how I came up with this, but I was certain that my grandmother was Scottish!” The result is Nobody Has to Know, a moving story that deals with some pretty big themes, life and death not least among them. “It … speaks about the time we have left to live our lives on earth. Because death is present for all of us - so we must enjoy every moment.” As part of that examination, it looks at the possibility of love blooming late in life and the importance of truth in human relationships. Lanners and Fairley (who some will recognise from TV’s Game of Thrones, in which she played Lady Stark) are beautifully cast to play the autumnal lovers and it’s a pleasure to watch these two consummate actors change as their characters emerge from their dour, protective shells and blossom under the influence of romance. It’s not all beer and skittles though (or should that be whisky and haggis?) and Lanners’ script throws up some unexpected curve balls. It’s a highly original idea, one that will keep you guessing until the film’s moving climax. Make sure you have a tissue in your pocket!