Some might be put off by the thought of a film in which the dialogue is almost entirely in verse; but after having seen Yes, a movie by director Sally Potter, verse is the perfect delivery mechanism. In such a natural manner are the lines delivered by the actors, that it took me several scenes to realise that the dialogue was in verse (barring the opening scene with the maid talking about dirt and cleanliness). This movie was clever, sad, funny and extremely relevant in today’s cultural and religious climate.
One feature of this film is that we are never told the names of the leading characters. She, played by Joan Allen, is an Irish born American scientist living in a marriage from which all love has been extinguished. Her husband, Anthony (Sam Neill), is a philandering, well-to-do British politician who feels that She is a cold woman. At a formal dinner, She meets He (Simon Abkarian), a Muslim waiter and chef from Lebanon. He notices the sullen mood of She at the dinner, and quickly proposes what might be called a tryst. Feeling trapped in her loveless marriage, she accepts.
We find out that He was once a surgeon in Beirut, but fled Lebanon after he saved a man from certain death only to him shot in front of his eyes. The killers told him only to treat those on the right side of the civil war. As a doctor, He could not abide this, and left the country immediately. She, having grown up in a nation of similar turmoil can sympathise with what He has come through. Their love is passionate and true.
There is one eyebrow raising scene in which He and She engage in some under the table intimacy at a restaurant. The scene required utmost delicacy from the director and needed to be played perfectly by the actors and it was. Less competent direction and acting might have turned what was a beautiful moment in the film into something filthy and artless.
A moment of conflict arises when He loses his job at a restaurant after He is insulted by one of his colleagues. Although He appears confident and comfortable in the western world, this incident exposes his fragility and the frustration he feels at being persecuted for his religious beliefs. He questions Her about her motives in this relationship. Is he just her exotic plaything? Why is it that he can compose verse in English and has read the Bible while She (and the western population in general) knows not one word of Arabic and knows nothing of the Qur’an? (Aside: I’d actually argue that if you’ve read the Bible, then you’d have a pretty fair idea of what’s in the Qur’an and vice-versa, but everybody always seems to completely overlook this point. More on this in a later post.)
During their argument, She is called away to her dying Aunt’s bedside in Belfast. Her Aunt is a Marxist through and through. We hear the Aunt speaking in an amusing unconscious soliloquy, poking fun at She, and giving She advice, all of which She cannot hear. That is, all except her last words, spoken aloud, which beseech her to go to Cuba to cleanse herself. She does go, and He meets her in Cuba after visiting Lebanon where he is tempted to take up his job as a surgeon once again.
Yes is a film I thoroughly enjoyed. It pulled off the modern Shakesperean verse without being pretentious in the slightest. My brother, who came to the screening, loved the film for goodness’ sakes, and he usually hates this kind of thing (being more partial to the Die Hard genre). I could say the film became a little too overtly leftist at its conclusion, but that really would be nit-picking. Yes was a truly memorable movie-going experience.
