The unfinished melodies of life are the best, according to Charlotte Wells. She is correct, too! The rarest of all ruminations on a daughter’s love for a father she believed she knew are included in this writing. If only she knew!
Aftersun, a film by Scottish author and filmmaker Charlotte Wells, is a superb examination of a father-daughter relationship as viewed through the lens of maturity. It is the director’s deftly autobiographical attempt to comprehend her father and the unspoken pain she sensed when she was 11 years old when they travelled to Turkey for a vacation as a family. It was supposed to be a joyful occasion. It was, too! But a deep feeling of sorrow underscores everything.
The holiday spent in a flurry of swimming and conversation becomes the central idea in the subject matter. The father is shown in this sweet movie as a courageous, kind, and loving man who struggles since he is not the sort of patriarchal provider who can grant all of his daughter’s wishes, which is why they take the inexpensive trip and cut corners. This is why counting pennies is a never-ending source of worry.
In spite of this, father Calum and daughter Sophie have a lovely unspoken relationship of love and understanding that lasts for the duration of their week-long stay in the beach town.
It’s not all sweetness and brotherhood, of course. The holidaying twosome has its share of tense moments, particularly when she agrees to perform for the two of them on stage, but the father declines to sing with her. He subsequently adds insult to injury by saying, “If you want to sing, you should tell me. You can sign up for singing classes.
You know full well you can’t afford that, Sophie responds, not one to take an insult lying down.
Even when they are harsh and caustic, the talks sound lively and spontaneous. The webcam allows the father and daughter to interact whatever they choose, and they share silences just as much as they do dialogues. I’m not sure how much of their chats are made up as they go. I doubt that this movie has any place for impromptu ideas about regaining an important aspect of the past.
You are left thinking about the key relationship’s alluring quietness. The father-daughter connection is central to the movie and its very existence, although it is not shown in a romanticised manner. The story, which takes place in the 1970s, focuses on what Sophie remembers of her father’s vacation since she was constantly filming it on video.
Why did Calum suddenly lapse into bouts of depression? Was it only the economic uncertainty? It is his birthday treat for the two of them, and Sophie while recording wants to know what Calum did on his 11th birthday. Calum clams up. Any reminder of his past disturbs Calum. Any plans for the future distracts him.
So the question that triggers this film: what made Calum so sad in spite of the brave front? Was it his concern for Sophie’s future? Or was he a closeted depressive? Sophie would never know. Memories of that holiday with her father haunt her adulthood. The rave parties, the underwater swims, or just lazing at the poolside….what did it all add up to?
Does it have to add up? Charlotte Wells tells us that the unfinished songs of life are the sweetest. And she is right! This is the rarest of rare ruminations on a daughter’s love for a father she thought she knew. If she only knew!
Subhash K Jha is a Patna-based journalist. He has been writing about Bollywood for long enough to know the industry inside out.
