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The family of our protagonist is invited to a reunion of his extended family in London. He hasn't seen most of the family or doesn't remember seeing them, his branch being the "black sheep" of the group. As the reunion progresses, he comes meets a diverse group of family members and hears their stories, including some from his own past. The stories aren't about buried dirt or scandals in the family but the they are fascinating nevertheless. The writer and director Stephen Poliakoff has a great gift for creating these absorbing stories out of everyday people and events.
The director's theatre background clearly helps him in focusing on how the story is told than on how it looks. The camera is almost always focused on the characters, capturing their expressions and emotions. The drama is generated by the story and the actors and not by any of the embellishments of film making. The whole production comes across as a play on the screen, which is an eminently good thing.
The story is divided into three parts and after watching every part, I couldn't wait to watch the next one. The total running time is four hours it felt much shorter. In the end, I was left wishing that there was just one more tale of family history left to tell.
9/10
