Indescribable Manchester by the Sea

Release Date：Dec/16/2016

Genre：Drama

Director：Kenneth Lonergan

Cast：Casey Affleck、Michelle Williams、Kyle Chandler、Lucas Hedges、C.J. Wilson

Viola's Rating：8.7

Having an Oscar winning elder brother must be extremely pressured to be in the show biz, but if your brother is better at directing and script writing than acting, and you happen to be an amazing actor, then there’s nothing to worry about. Ben Affleck’s brother, Casey Affleck’s latest feature film, “Manchester by the Sea”, was released on Dec. 16, 2016, and got six Golden Globe nominations taking the “Best Actor-Motion Picture-Drama” award back, waiting for wins from its six Oscar nominations.

Released a week before Christmas, “Manchester by the Sea” doesn’t provide its audience any happiness, but a depressing two-hour journey. This drama talks about the story of an uncle who is asked to take care of his teenage nephew after the boy's father dies.

From the name of the film to extracts of the trailer, it’s easy to notice that there’s a big part about boat, fishing and the sea. This aspect not only provides some conflicts between Lee (Casey Affleck) and his nephew Patrick (Ben O’Brien) and problems for them to solve, but also bookends that show how close they were with the deceased, Lee’s brother aka Patrick’s father.

Usually, there are a bunch of close-ups in a flick to make it easier for moviegoers to empathize the characters. However, in “Manchester by the Sea”, more chest shots are used, but still, the heart-breaking emotion is all over the motion picture, and even if the leading roles don’t talk as much, the ambience are “said” through the vision.

Though a slow-paced movie, “Manchester by the Sea” gives its audience a host of information revealing bits at a time, and long takes containing the beautiful scenery of Manchester, Massachusetts emphasizes how bleak the situation is.

Besides the breathtaking visual adventure, the audio experience is attractive as well since most scores of the picture are played by symphony orchestra which makes the sad atmosphere even unhappier.

As mentioned before, there aren’t a lot of lines in the feature film, but Affleck’s brilliant acting is able to express the complex and indescribable feeling so excellently that he not only won Best Actor in a leading role of the British Academy Film Awards, Best Actor of Golden Globe and is a nominee of the Academy Awards. Way before its release, “Manchester by the Sea” was being looked forward by the crowd with high expectations of Affleck’s performance.

Although “Manchester by the Sea” won’t give you two blissful hours, the journey the characters undergo and the meaning it conveys will make you ponder much and it’s definitely one of the best film of the year for you to immerse yourself in the lovely scenery and magnificent scores.