Anchor and Hope

Anchor and Hope (2017) is an English movie co-written and directed by Carlos Marques-Marcet. The film stars Oona Chaplin as Eva, and Natalia Tena as Kat. They are happily in love. They do, indeed, live in a houseboat.

The situation changes when Kat invites her childhood friend Roger to stay with them in the houseboat for "a few days or weeks." It doesn't take an large leap of imagination to expect that two women together is one matter, but two women and one man together is something very different. That's where the plot takes off.

This picture is billed in the hype as that "sexual orientation isn't really a plot point. Nobody comes out. There are no homophobic characters or issues. It's essentially a romantic comedy/drama that happens to feature a lesbian couple." Don't believe it. It's a lesbian film. What's wrong with that?

I think it's a very good movie, with an interesting plot and great acting by all three lead actors. I recommend it.

We saw this movie at Rochester's Little Theatre as part of Image Out, the excellent Rochester LGBT Film Festival. It will work almost as well on the small screen.

P.S. Look for Geraldine Chaplin in the supporting role of Germaine, Eva's mother. We know that she is, indeed, Oona Chaplin's mother. Great casting!

Two lesbians (Oona Chaplin and Natalia Tena) are living on a houseboat, and friend Roger (David Verdaguer) comes to stay with them. Much discussion and angst over whether to have Roger help them have a baby. drinking, crying, arguing. more arguing, angst, discussions. Great, respectful treatment of the lesbian relationship, and their interaction with the straight friend. only one of this group seems to have a job... wondering what the other two do for money?? it's never discussed. It's pretty good. Yes, Oona is the grand-daughter of hollywood great Charlie Chaplin. and her mother Geraldine plays Germaine in this very film! Tena and Verdaguer had made 10,000 KM together back in 2014. that was ALSO directed by Carlos Marques-Marcet. Anchor is quite good. some fun stuff. some serious stuff. great acting, directing.

A very beautiful film about a couple and two friends. About Spanish people living in England and about how young (but not so young) people in their thirties deal with their lives to combine freedom, happiness, utopia and a life project. Not an easy thing! I liked it quite a lot!

Eva and Kat are in their 30s. They live a perfectly Bohemian life on a barge that they periodically move along the Regents canal in London. The desire of parenthood felt by Eva and the arrival of Kat's best friend Roger will shake their lives. This film explores personal aspirations, affection and communication within a couple when role models are lacking. The result is a beautiful portrait and the certainty that life can be what we make of it.

A good script on how two alternative fun loving females living on a canal boat in London enlist the aid of a male friend to impregnate one of them so that they can have a child. For drama a couple of issues arise. However there are several not shown problems. First, it's safer to have a clinic collect the donor's sperm. Second, houseboat living has it's low consumption lifestyle, low rental (moorage fees), alternative living positives, but there are thousands of houseboats on the crowded (not shown in movie) waterways. They must continuously move every few days to a a couple of weeks. Potable water, electricity, sewage, engine problems, fuel smell, weather, basic comfort are problems, and the canal water doesn't look the healthiest.