Joanna Hogg’s style is a fingerprint. Once you’ve seen one of her films, you get the lay of the land. It’s as specific a fingerprint as Martin Scorsese’s, although of a completely different rhythm and energy and milieu. (It’s not a surprise that Scorsese produced her latest film, The Souvenir. Game recognize game.)
Back in 2019, I wrote the cover story for Film Comment on The Souvenir.
The Souvenir has stayed with me. Unnerved me. Jogged loose memories. Made me feel nostalgic, but also eager to be as honest about my own past as Hogg is about hers. Hogg can’t be imitated.
The Souvenir is now streaming on Amazon Prime and I have spent a lot of time with it over the last couple of weeks. Its style and relationships and rhythm have been soothing and also fortifying in this time of change. I highly recommend the film. I’m also so excited that there is apparently a sequel – now THAT’S a franchise I am actually excited about. (In the original version I saw, this deeply personal and specific story ended with a huge title card, like it was a Tarantino film, saying: Part 2 … To Be Continued … or something REALLY dramatic and cinematic like that, and I loved Hogg’s whimsy and confidence. To end a personal autobiographical story about a young woman learning to become a filmmaker and an adult – i.e. Portrait of a Young Woman as an Artist – with a cliffhanger TO BE CONTINUED was beautifully subversive. And yes. I can’t wait.
I pulled out a bunch of different screengrabs to illustrate Hoggs’ multi-layered concern, and how it’s reflected visually. She’s so SPECIFIC. Many of these overlap.
First there are the souvenirs themselves, sprinkled throughout the film. I’ve probably missed some.
Then there is Julie (Honor Swinton-Byrne) at work
Glass and mirrors (also: see image on cover of Film Comment
Anthony (Tom Burke) from behind
Relationships, carefully placed in the frame, which – once established by Hogg – does not change
Doorways and corridors and the people in them – a recurring visual motif in all of Hogg’s films