The Souvenir Part II is not just a stroll down memory lane for British director Joanna Hogg. It is a powerful portrait of the filmmaking process itself. Although designed to be a sequel, the film stands alone in its exploration of love, life and cinema. Shown as part of the Director’s Fortnight at Cannes in 2021, it was released in France on 2 February.
Joanna Hogg kept her diaries from the 1980s, and even certain items of clothing and objects, like talismans for a time capsule. Did she suspect that forty years later she would hand these items over to her team of actors to make two semi-autobiographical feature films, The Souvenir Part I and Part II?
“The idea came from thinking about the beginning of my film making career,” Joanna Hogg says. “It’s the story of a woman who is just starting to be recognised for her true value as an artist.”
The Souvenir Part II picks up where Part I left off, telling the story of Julie, roughly based on Hogg’s own experiences as a student at film school in the UK. It should be noted that it is not necessary to see the first film to understand the second.
Having broken up with a charismatic older man, Anthony, Julie is now trying to piece her life back together. This involves pitching her idea for her graduation film to a jury, and then organising the crew to make it.
As she pulls herself out of an emotional black hole, flashbacks fill the viewer in on the sway Anthony held over her and she can’t help but seek out the people who knew him in order to get closure. What saves her is making her own film, which acts as a catalyst for freedom – as a woman and as a filmmaker.
From personal heartbreak, to creative liberation
When mulling over whether to make a film about this period of her life, Hogg said there was a key issue holding her back: how to write the part of ‘Anthony’ – the man who broke her heart. He was too elusive, too mysterious, too potent, she told journalists at the Directors’ Fortnight screening during the Cannes film festival in July.
In the end, Hogg said she realised she didn’t need permission to write his side of the story – she could make it up, leaving it deliberately vague and instead focus on her own story, her ‘souvenir’.
Hogg admits to having a very instinctive way of going about filmmaking, much like her on-screen alter ego, played by Honor Swinton Byrne.
“I kind of make things up as I go along,” she told RFI after the première screening at Cannes.
“This can be quite destabilising for my collaborators but we’re all going on this journey. Once we’re all of the mindset that we’re going to change things, new ideas are going to come up … then it’s really exciting. For me that’s how filmmaking should be. It’s not about planning something and then executing it, it’s about really living it and the process being the fun of it.”
Hogg doesn’t write scenarios in a traditional way, instead she uses a kind of “map”, an illustrated text of around thirty pages which sum up the story briefly. “There are photos, drawings, a description of the inner lives of the characters,” she says, adding that it went against what she was advised to do at film school but it works for her.
Recreating the 1980s
Hogg has underlined on several occasions how the spirit of a family both on and off screen helped contribute to the making of the Souvenir films.
In a nod to the past, Julie’s mother is played by Tilda Swinton, who as a fellow student, acted in Hogg’s graduation film. Tilda also happens to be Honor’s real-life mum.
“I knew Tilda at the time I’m describing in the film, so she has been influenced by the same things and I knew she would be able to portray the atmosphere of those days. She is now the age our mothers were back then. We often speak about our parents’ generation, who knew the Second World War, it’s a generation that is disappearing and it’s important to highlight it.”
“With Tilda, it’s like family, and choosing her daughter as the lead, confirms this spirit,” Hogg explains, adding that casting Honor only came about a few weeks before filming started, much to the alarm of the production team. On top of that, Honor had never acted before.
The 21 year-old was given Hogg’s diaries from the early 80s to read as well as snapshots and short films she made at the time as a student. The other actors sat down to chat with Hogg about her life as a student to pick up on the vibe of the time. The feel of the period was recreated on set with music from Joe Jackson and Pyschedelic Furs along with decorative items that came directly from Hogg’s student bedroom.
“I really looked hard for the actress I wanted, someone who would be portray both a gentle and rough side, and it got quite stressful for my team,” Hogg explains, insisting that the casting process is as vital to the success of a film, as a loyal technical team.
Universal message
“But I wasn’t ready to make a compromise. The casting period is very instinctive for me, I need to feel that the actors really correspond to their roles. I met professionals and amateurs. I didn’t have any ethnic or physical criteria in my mind. Seeing as the character is only loosely inspired by me, I didn’t necessarily need someone who resembles me. I was incapable of describing exactly what I wanted, but Honor matched it perfectly.”
As for Honor, she says the role felt very natural for her, despite “preferring to stay behind the camera” much like Hogg herself. She needed no urging to “act like a 21 year old” seeing as it was her real age and she brings a genuine naivety and freshness to the role. Even playing beside her mother was not an issue. In fact, it was easier than she expected, she said, because their real-life relationship is so different to the on-screen one.
It’s a very intimate film in lots of ways, filmed mostly indoors, often on the set which Julie has made for her project. We weave in and out of reality, dream, memory, with some stylised inserts in black and white, with references to antique theatre and the classics.
Ultimately The Souvenir part II is a journey, in time and space, with a triumphant, positive ending.
Although set in the 1980s, it could have just as easily been set in today’s world, as its message is universal. First loves, disappointment, heartbreak, finding one’s feet as an adult, taking responsibility. And letting your voice speak.
“When I make a film, I return to my memories of the time and dive fully into the creative process. But when it’s over, I draw a line and the work becomes the property of the public,” says Hogg.
The Souvenir Parts I and II were released in French cinemas on 2 February, 2022.
