Manchester by The Sea tells a story of homecoming but not any other homecoming. Lee Chandler, a middle-aged man, is forced to return to his hometown of Manchester, Massachusetts when his brother collapses and dies of a heart attack. He soon finds out that he has to come back and live in the city which gave and took away everything that he loved and adored in his life to take care of his nephew Patrick.
Lee is a broken man and lives his life by the day. All his hopes and ambitions were killed off by a fire, the mightiest fire that the city of Manchester had ever seen. So when Lee found himself taking care of his nephew, he was agitated. His life had suddenly found meaning which he abhorred. His internal conflict was brilliantly and sullenly portrayed by Casey Affleck who, in the movie, only talks in short sentences, loses his temper every now and then and walks with his back a little hunched. So, when Lee finds his former wife, he is forced to confront his past which he at various attempts has tried to drink and sleep away. Casey Affleck’s brilliance, in the movie, saw him win the Academy Award for best actor in 2017.
When it comes to cinematography, Manchester by The Sea does an excellent job in capturing the essence of suburbs of Manchester. You can feel the waves lapping against the dockyards and the spine chilling winters. It would not be an exaggeration to say that Casey Affleck’s efforts would not have been appreciated as much if the cameras did not capture the emptiness and hopelessness on his face that he so skillfully displays.
Kenneth Lonergan’s Manchester by The Sea announced his break from his hiatus. His previous movies kept begging for more but Manchester by The Sea was a masterpiece of its kind. It not only has a plot which has been illustrated by cinematography and excellent acting but multiple other subplots which add to the gravity of the main plot and help to build it up.
137 minutes of runtime seem to fly by and as an audience you are likely to keep asking for more from this movie. The story is simple and common but humanized with sadness, emptiness and desperation. Manchester by The Sea is definitely something that you can treat yourself with this winter.
Al Wasee M Fahimuddaula
Executive Editor