CinemaSavannah is ready to bring everyone together for their first screening of 2022. After delays caused by covid-19 restrictions CinemaSavannah is presenting the movie “Together” on Friday, Jan. 28 at 7 p.m. at the Ben Tucker Theater inside the Savannah Cultural Arts Center.
“Our first attempt in December before the holidays didn’t go well since we only had 25 people come to see First Cow, but now that the pandemic is surely on its way out, we hope to see a crowd big enough to reward our efforts to keep the program running. So, the thrill is not gone, and I know I am gonna feel it come back soon,” said Tomasz Warchol, founder of CinemaSavannah.
“Together” is a 2021 British comedy-drama film written by Dennis Kelly and directed by Stephen Daldry. It stars James McAvoy and Sharon Horgan as a couple re-evaluating their relationship during the COVID-19 pandemic, with Samuel Logan making an appearance as their son with special needs, Artie.
“What better way to exorcise our collective pandemic trauma than to get together and watch the best film about that experience. It is the story of a family, like so many, who found a way to survive and recover together,” said Warchol.
This film is timely as it is a reflection of what many couples faced while the world was locked down earlier in the pandemic. In “Together” the couple’s relationship is crumbling but during the film, which takes place roughly from Feb., 2020 through spring of the following year, their relationship is reawakened, reexamined, and hard-heartedly analyzed.
“It will stay timely for as long as we experience our pandemic-restricted lives. I wanted to show it at the end of last year thinking it would have coincided with the end of the pandemic, but the virus had other plans so now, I guess, we can use the film to help us appreciate the struggles we had all been through and our tough way to recovery,” said Warchol.
Many critics applauded the originality of the films writing as well as the chemistry and performances by McAvoy and Horgan which have been described as raw and real. Warchol believes the CinemaSavannah audience will appreciate those aspects of the film.
Both leads are relatable characters that tackled a variety of issues. We all know someone that thinks like each one of them and that is a credit to the writing as well.
Everyone probably knows a couple like this that—during the lockdown—the dynamics of the two personalities had us wondering would their relationship survive or will they rip each other apart.
Some critics criticized the film for its approach of tackling politics, the odd staging of the film and its use of breaking the fourth wall.
Warchol believe the two actors addressing the audience through the fourth wall was a brilliant narrative and dramatic device that was justified.
“You literally need that fourth wall to share your thoughts and feelings with someone other than the person you are “stuck with.” I love how we the audience of the film become not just the passive observers/voyeurs but also the invisible lifeline, the characters’ emotional outlet, their patient listeners. It’s genius,” Warchol said.
For me, while I do feel the use of the fourth wall was necessary, in moments though it felt like it was too much when the two actors were on screen together. As if they had no room to breathe. Though it gave the audience that dynamic of the characters sharing their thoughts while being stuck in lockdown with someone. Ultimately, I did enjoy the story and the couples journey through the lockdown.
See the film “Together” on Friday, Jan. 28 at 7 p.m. at the Ben Tucker Theater inside the Savannah Cultural Arts Center. Mask are required while in the building and the capacity will be kept under 60%. Doors open at 6 p.m., movie starts at 7 p.m. and cost $10.
