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A Reel Life film section

Issue: Winter 2014

Still Life (2013) movie review

What Comes Next...

In the lonely office of a British council chambers a quiet unregarded man is tasked with the final dispensation of unclaimed bodies.

He enters the homes of the dead, goes through their things and tries to find relatives, friends, and meaning.

Mr May (Eddie Marsan) lives a lonely existence and yet finds a remarkable compassion for the people whose last rites are in his care. He organises funerals, which he attends, he disposes of ashes if no-one claims them, and he sometimes lies on the grass of the peaceful spot-with-a-view that he has put aside for his own resting place.

Movie poster, Still Life, Festivale film review; 220x314

Movie poster, Still Life
For John May, life is looking up.

As Mr May embarks on a search for the friends and family of Billy Stoke we see him entering into the lives of people who have moved on, giving the news of Stokes' death, and finding out what the man is like.

We wish for Mr May to find someone for himself. We realise that in his small way he is making a noble footprint in the lives of others, and we hope that he will not end up one of the untended dead.

Quietly told, with insight and frankness.

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by Ali Kayn
Australian release 24 July 2014
For credits and official site details, see below
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Just the facts:

Title: Still Life (2013)
Written by: Uberto Pasolini
Directed by: Uberto Pasolini
Running time: 92 mins
Rating:

The Players: Eddie Marsan, Joanne Froggatt

Official website:
IMDb entry

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