THE SOUVENIR: PARTS I & II

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With the appearance of a second installment last year, Hogg’s semi-autobiographical project, The Souvenir, has taken on the dimensions of an intimate, confessional epic; in bringing both parts back to the cinema, Metrograph invites viewers to experience the scope of the filmmaker’s ambitious, emotionally arduous undertaking. In Part I, set in the ’80s, we’re introduced to Julie (Honor Swinton Byrne, daughter of Tilda, who plays the character’s patrician mother), an aspiring filmmaker drawn into a relationship with a slightly older man, Anthony (Tom Burke), whom she gradually discovers to be a heroin addict and master manipulator. Part II picks up with Julie as she picks up the pieces of her life post-Anthony, using her filmmaking to sift through the rubble of that anguished relationship while gradually gaining in confidence as an artist. Individually remarkable, together the films enrich one another immeasurably, creating an evocative cinematic echo chamber or experience, stoic reflection, and regret.