His & Hers

"A man loves his girlfriend the most, his wife the best, but his mother the longest." Old Irish Proverb.

Directed by Ken Wardrop. Using his mother's life as inspiration, the filmmaker has created a documentary film that explores how women share life's journey with the opposite sex. Interviewing 70 women in the Irish midlands, Wardrop asks the ladies about the men in their lives, the back drops literally being the kitchens, bedrooms and living rooms that the respective female's dwell in. It follows a life course from newborn baby to frail old age pensioner, be it fathers, boyfriends, husbands or sons, it's a piece to be viewed as one lovingly crafted relationship blanket. Its structure and theme of course wont be for everyone, and certainly some of the accents may be hard to grasp for non residents of Ireland, but it's a mightily warm production, one that's as often humorous as it is tender and heart aching. 8/10

A fun concept piece that asks seventy unrelated Irish women to describe the most important man at that particular moment of their lives. With subjects that reach across every lifestyle, age and demeanor, the tone and context of every two-minute conversation varies wildly. Bubbly younger girls describe their fathers as everything from herculean supermen to strict, chore-demanding slave drivers. Teens vary their focus from their dads to the flirts and love interests of adolescence. Young adults begin to yearn for longer-term relationships, thirty-somethings discuss their kids and older women touch on the rigors of rut-riding and, eventually, crippling loss. I found the ambitious, carefully-arranged cinematography to be every bit as interesting as the variety of faces and their tales. In a way, it's a talking picture book; a photo essay on the slow, inevitable evolution of a thorough life. Though we don't spend long with any subject, that doesn't stop their stories from connecting in a very real, emotional way.

This film takes ordinary women in the Irish midlands as its subject, gathers a collection of small moments, and turns them into a fascinating narrative. It is remarkable how frank, open, and honest the participants are, and the result is poignant and often hilarious. I can't help but feel this could only have worked with Irish women, who seem to have a unique way of telling their story.

Wardrop does a wonderful job of establishing continuity through the film, by careful assembling the interviews from young to old, giving the impression of a life being described. His lighting and cinematography are first-class and give the film a seamless feel where it could have been disjointed. It's all the more remarkable since he shot every interview on one roll of film; about ten minutes per woman including all the cutaway shots.

All in all, this was a joy to watch and I'm looking forward to checking out more of Wardrops work.