Ray & Liz (2018)

Directed by: Richard Billingham | 108 minutes | drama | Actors: Justin Salinger, Ella Smith, Richard Ashton, Michelle Bonnard, Sam Dodd, James Eeles, Sam Gittins, James Hinton, Andrew Jefferson-Tierney, Patrick Romer, Tony Way

Can an autobiography ever be truthful? Does that actually matter? These questions naturally arise after seeing the English autobiographical kitchen sink drama ‘Ray & Liz’ by original photographer Richard Billingham. The film consists of a short and a long episode from Billingham’s childhood, with scenes from his now old alcoholic father Ray before, after and in between.

The two episodes from Billingham’s childhood are quite different in character and quality. Although the episodes are about the eighties of the last century, they seem to be set in the ash-grey fifties. They are set in a low social environment in a poor community near Birmingham.

The first episode is almost a skit, about an uncle of the director who one day comes to babysit Richard’s youngest brother. The uncle is a bit simple, a booze-lover, and it doesn’t take much to get things out of hand. The second episode focuses on Richard’s little brother Jason, a boy who is neglected on all sides. We follow him on his lonely journeys through the neighborhood, where you as a viewer feel the approaching disaster.

Billingham has worked hard to make it all as kitchensink as possible. A puking uncle (and a dog who swallows the proceeds), shabby interiors, bottles full of booze, Ray standing in a pool of urine, money problems, no electricity, swearing, swearing and ranting. But we don’t believe it at all. In dysfunctional kitchen sink environments there is no room to finish sentences, everyone talks at once and the non-verbal is at least as pronounced as the verbal. In ‘Ray & Liz’, Liz politely waits for Ray to finish, then calmly poses her answer (something along the lines of You fucking cunt). The words suggest emotion, the stage-like pronunciation and languid body language kill that emotion. Also strange is the way Richard Billingham portrays his young self in the film. Like a Harry Potter who has suddenly ended up in Coronation Street.

Apart from that incredibility, ‘Ray & Liz’ is still quite enjoyable. The film is full of visual beauty and fine finds. The episode about brother Jason is compelling, sometimes funny, sometimes exciting. We don’t complain about the music either and the film is atmospheric, stylish and tries to tell something profound. Good movie, but a missed opportunity.