Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Christopher Eccleston, Aneurin Barnard, Tom Wilkinson, Gethin Anthony, Freya Mavor, Nigel Lindsay, Marion Bailey, Emma Campbell-Jones, Velibor Topic, Carol MacReady, Marcia Warren, Nathalie Buscombe, Orion Lee, Eileen Nicholas, Cecilia Noble, James Kermack, Keir Charles, Tim Steed, Neelam Bakshi, Mark Penfold, Parth Thakerar, Ashton Henry Reid, Terenia Cooper.
There are themes within art that many find unsettling, they seek to disapprove and claim that such investigations into the world of the person seeking suicide for example as an answer to their problems and ills are mawkish, they believe it is a form of self-pity that should not be encouraged, dangerous perhaps and potentially threatening to society.
However, we celebrate films which deal with the horrors of war, of abuse, of overcoming physical illness, we see television programmes such as M*A*S*H and applaud the bravery of story-lines chosen, we form a delicate balance of love and appreciation for artists who show their torment on canvas and yet we still actually talk about the act of suicide in hushed tones, frightened to talk freely in case it upsets the Victorian morals that somehow we still cling to.
If art is there to open discussion and debate, then the film Dead In A Week, Or Your Money Back is one that blows the topic completely wide apart, its genuine sincerity and openness, its push to the levels of black comedy, is outstanding and with a straight faced dialogue that captures the sheer capacity of talent on screen in Tom Wilkinson, Christopher Eccleston, Aneurin Barnard and Freya Mavor.
The question that beats at the heart of the film is one of the fear of loss, not just of one’s self but in society, we find it easy to see certain ages in people as having no use in life, to some they take up space, not worthy of the time and effort, and it is in this shallowness of thought that makes our civilisation, uncivilised, desperate, we complain about the young, we see the older generations as being just a bag of memories, we have found ways to shorten the dignity of all, by saying they are redundant, only fit to live out their days in regret, we subject them to be nothing more than a target for an imaginary hitman who will continue to hunt them down as the clock ticks ever onward.
The theme tune to M*A*S*H, performed by Johnny Mandel and lyrics by the young Michael Altman was banned by the B.B.C in its vocal form in its efforts to keep its listeners from experiencing anguish and whilst suicide is the last resort of a person facing intolerable circumstances, it has to be noted that by sweeping it under the carpet we have done more harm than good. It is a painless act which sees the makers of Dead In A Week, Or Your Money Back explore what it means to die, that sometimes living is not just the answer but a virtue in which someone else may be saved.
A marvellously written British film dealing with a complex matter, a moment of heroism portrayed in an unexpected cinematic find.
Ian D. Hall