Morvern Callar (film)
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''Morvern Callar'' is a 2002 British
psychological drama Psychological drama or psychodrama is a sub-genre of drama that places emphasis on psychological elements. It often overlaps with other genres such as crime, fantasy, black comedy, and science fiction, and it is closely related with the psychologi ...
film directed by
Lynne Ramsay Lynne Ramsay (born 5 December 1969) is a Scottish film director, writer, producer, and cinematographer best known for the feature films '' Ratcatcher'' (1999), '' Morvern Callar'' (2002), '' We Need to Talk About Kevin'' (2011), and ''You Were N ...
and starring
Samantha Morton Samantha Jane Morton (born 13 May 1977) is an English actress and director. Known for her work in independent cinema, she is the recipient of numerous accolades, including a BAFTA Award and a Golden Globe Award, as well as nominations for tw ...
as the
titular character The title character in a narrative work is one who is named or referred to in the title of the work. In a performed work such as a play or film, the performer who plays the title character is said to have the title role of the piece. The title of ...
. The screenplay, co-written by Ramsay and Liana Dognini, was based on the 1995 novel of the same name by
Alan Warner Alan Warner (born 1964) is a Scottish novelist who grew up in Connel, near Oban. His notable novels include '' Morvern Callar'' and ''The Sopranos'' – the latter being the inspiration for the play '' Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour'' and its ...
. The film received positive reviews from critics.


Synopsis

Morvern Callar is a young woman in a small port town in
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
who works at a supermarket. She wakes on Christmas morning to discover that her boyfriend has killed himself, leaving a suicide note, a mix tape, Christmas presents, and the manuscript of his unpublished novel behind. His novel is dedicated to her, and Morvern decides to erase his name from the manuscript and replace it with her own before sending it to the publisher recommended in his suicide note. Despite him having left her money to arrange a funeral, Morvern tells her best friend and co-worker Lanna that her boyfriend has left her and moved abroad. After several days, Morvern cuts up his body and buries it in the mountains, and arranges a holiday to
Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of the same name. It lies on southeastern Iberia on the Mediterranean Sea. Caliph Abd al-Rahman III founded the city in 955. The city gr ...
, Spain with Lanna, who shortly before departure reveals to Morvern that she had slept with her boyfriend previously. As they go out and party, Morvern feels she's in a different mood from Lanna and heads back to the hotel; she meets a man whose mother has recently died, and has sex with him. The next day, Morvern convinces Lanna to travel with her to another town, where they get lost and spend the night on a rural road. Lanna becomes exasperated with Morvern, and in the morning Morvern leaves her. Morvern meets with publishers who have travelled to Spain with hopes of getting the rights to the manuscript. Morvern continues to pretend she wrote the novel and accepts a £100,000 advance. Back in Scotland, Morvern attempts to convince Lanna to leave with her, but Lanna refuses, stating her life is in Scotland and warning Morvern that everywhere else is just as bad. Morvern collects her suitcase and goes to the railway station, and is last seen in a nightclub, listening to "
Dedicated to the One I Love "Dedicated To The One I Love" is a song written by Lowman Pauling and Ralph Bass that was a hit for the "5" Royales, the Shirelles, the Mamas & the Papas and Bitty McLean. Pauling was the guitarist of the "5" Royales, the group that recorded the ...
" from the mixtape her boyfriend left for her.


Cast

*
Samantha Morton Samantha Jane Morton (born 13 May 1977) is an English actress and director. Known for her work in independent cinema, she is the recipient of numerous accolades, including a BAFTA Award and a Golden Globe Award, as well as nominations for tw ...
as Morvern Callar *
Kathleen McDermott Kathleen McDermott (born 21 May 1977) is a Scottish actress, singer, model, and make-up artist. She is best known for her roles in the feature film '' Morvern Callar'' (2002), the television film ''Wedding Belles'' (2007), and the miniseries ...
as Lanna


Critical reception

''Morvern Callar'' received positive reviews from critics. It holds a rating of 78/100 on
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, and an 84% approval rating on
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, based on 82 reviews, with an average score of 7.1/10. The critical consensus stating "Morton quietly makes this quirky, enigmatic mood piece a compelling watch." At the
2002 Cannes Film Festival The 55th Cannes Film Festival started on 15 May and ran until 26 May 2002. The Palme d'Or went to the Polish-French-German-British co-produced film '' The Pianist'' directed by Roman Polanski. The festival opened with ''Hollywood Ending'', directe ...
, the film premiered during the Directors' Fortnight, where it was awarded the Award of the Youth for Best Foreign Film. At the 2002 British Independent Film Awards, ''Morvern Callar'' received seven nominations, including Best Director for Ramsay, Best Screenplay for Ramsay and Dognini, and Most Promising Newcomer for Kathleen McDermott; Samantha Morton won the award for Best Actress. Additionally, McDermott was awarded the Best Actress Award at the 2002
BAFTA Scotland Award The British Academy Scotland Awards are presented annually at an awards ceremony organised by BAFTA Scotland. History The annual British Academy Scotland Awards were launched in 2004 to recognise outstanding achievement by individuals working in ...
s.


Soundtrack

#
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– "I Want More" #
Aphex Twin Richard David James (born 18 August 1971), best known as Aphex Twin, is an Irish-born British musician, composer and DJ. He is known for his idiosyncratic work in electronic music, electronic styles such as techno, ambient music, ambient, and jun ...
– "Goon Gumpas" #
Boards Of Canada Boards of Canada are a Scottish electronic music duo consisting of brothers Michael Sandison and Marcus Eoin, formed initially as a group in 1986 before becoming a duo in the 1990s.Hoffmann, Heiko.Pitchfork: Interviews: Boards of Canada (Septemb ...
– "Everything You Do Is A Balloon" #Can – "Spoon" #
Stereolab Stereolab are an Anglo- French avant-pop band formed in London in 1990. Led by the songwriting team of Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier, the group's music combines influences from krautrock, lounge and 1960s pop music, often incorporating a repetit ...
– "Blue Milk" (Edit) #
The Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City in 1964. The original line-up consisted of singer/guitarist Lou Reed, multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and drummer Angus MacLise. MacLise w ...
– "
I'm Sticking With You ''VU'' is a 1985 album by the American musical group the Velvet Underground, a compilation album of outtakes recorded 1968-69. It was released in February 1985 by Verve Records. Composition and collection When the Velvet Underground moved from ...
" #
Broadcast Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum ( radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting began ...
– "You Can Fall" #
Gamelan Gamelan () ( jv, ꦒꦩꦼꦭꦤ꧀, su, ᮌᮙᮨᮜᮔ᮪, ban, ᬕᬫᭂᬮᬦ᭄) is the traditional ensemble music of the Javanese, Sundanese, and Balinese peoples of Indonesia, made up predominantly of percussive instruments. T ...
– "Drumming" #
Holger Czukay Holger Schüring (24 March 1938 – 5 September 2017), known professionally as Holger Czukay (), was a German musician best known as a co-founder of the krautrock group Can. Described as "successfully bridg ngthe gap between pop and the avant-g ...
– "Cool In The Pool" #
Lee "Scratch" Perry Lee "Scratch" Perry (born Rainford Hugh Perry; 20 March 1936 – 29 August 2021) was a Jamaican record producer, composer and singer noted for his innovative studio techniques and production style. Perry was a pioneer in the 1970s development o ...
– "Hold Of Death" #
Nancy Sinatra Nancy Sandra Sinatra (born June 8, 1940) is an American singer and actress. She is the elder daughter of Frank Sinatra and Nancy Sinatra ( Barbato), and is best known for her 1966 signature hit "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'. Nancy Sinatra ...
and
Lee Hazlewood Barton Lee Hazlewood (July 9, 1929 – August 4, 2007) was an American country and pop singer, songwriter, and record producer, most widely known for his work with guitarist Duane Eddy during the late 1950s and singer Nancy Sinatra in the 1960s ...
– "Some Velvet Morning" #
Ween Ween is an American rock band from New Hope, Pennsylvania, formed in 1984 by Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo, better known by their respective stage names, Gene and Dean Ween. Generally categorized as an alternative rock band, the band are ...
– "Japanese Cowboy" #Holger Czukay – "Fragrance" #Aphex Twin – "Nannou" #
Taraf de Haïdouks Taraful Haiducilor ("Taraf of Haiduks") are a Romanian-Romani ''taraf'' (a troupe of ''lăutari'', traditional musicians) from Clejani, Romania, and one of the most prominent such groups in post-Communist era Romania. In the Western world they ...
– "Cînd eram la '48"


References


External links

* * * * {{Lynne Ramsay 2002 films 2002 drama films British drama films English-language Scottish films Films about suicide Films directed by Lynne Ramsay Films set in Spain Scottish films Films based on British novels Films set in Scotland Films shot in Almería 2000s English-language films 2000s British films