“Watching the films of Joanna Hogg, a late-blooming British master, is like watching a blank canvas become a work of art. Start with small details. Add in impressions and feelings. Build visual elements stroke by stroke, until near the end, the big picture emerges almost in real time, with full impact.
“The Souvenir is another small, quietly devastating drama by Joanna Hogg, and perhaps the most ambitious and personal of her four films. It is about a love affair, both in front of and behind the camera. And her fourth film is the first to get a major American release — Martin Scorsese, a fan, signed on as executive producer to give the project a boost.
“The love affair onscreen — between a film school student in 1980s England with big dreams and a sense of awakening, and an older, sophisticated writer who has a secret heroin addiction — is a fascinating train wreck. It’s kind of like A Star Is Born, with all the talent and self-destructiveness but none of the fame.
“But the behind-the-scenes love affair — with film as an art form — is quite riveting.” - San Francisco Chronicle
"A poetic and meditative portrayal of first love, and the wounds it leaves behind. Honor Swinton Byrne's debut performance is astounding." - Philadelphia Daily News
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