“…yes I said yes I will yes”
The famous end of James Joyce’s ‘Ulysses’ is the start for Sally Potter’s film titled, simply, ‘Yes’. She began writing on September the 12th, in the wake of 9 / 11, in a changed world in desperate need of such affirmation.
Thankfully her film ultimately wears its politics lightly. There is, Potter states, ‘no overt message’. Instead, she gently unpicks the tensions that surround two ‘opposites’ as a love affair develops between an Irish-American scientist (Joan Allen) and a refugee Lebanese surgeon turned cook (Simon Abkarian).
For me, ‘Yes’ is a film that once again showcases Potter’s inventive courage as a writer / director. The script is written in iambic pentameter (a form of poetry) – you hardly notice it and yet it leaves an impression, infusing the dialogue with a kind of lilting memorability. The visual language of the film is similarly accomplished.
I loved this film. I loved its risk-taking in theme and form. It has stayed with me.
Imperfect? Perhaps; Unforgettable – Yes.
