Falling into Place (15) |Close-Up Film Review
Dir: Aylin Tezel, UK/Germany, 2023, 114 mins
Cast: Aylin Tezel, Chris Fulton
Review by Carol Allen
It is beautifully filmed by cinematographer Julian Krubasik, sometimes a bit annoying but ultimately very likeable and rather touching.
Kira (Aylin Tezel) and Ian (Chris Fulton) meet outside a pub on the Isle of Skye and a spark ignites between them. She is licking her wounds from a broken relationship; he is visiting his family with whom he appears to have fallen out. They lark about in a rather juvenile fashion on the nighttime streets and later with a bit more restraint hiking around the beautiful landscape of the Skye countryside. He takes her to meet his parents; things get a bit tricky when she learns he has a girlfriend but the chemistry between them is still strong till the time comes for them to return to their very different lives in London.
And in the hubbub of the city, contrasting with the peace of Skye, that is when we learn what they are about through following their separate lives. Failed musician Ian does shifts in a bar, is full of bonhomie on the surface but not so amiable in his relationship with this partner Emily (Alexandra Dowling). Kira, who’s making little progress in her career as a theatre designer and portrait artist, is still trying to adjust to the fact of her broken relationship with actor Aidan (Rory Fleck Byrne) but she does start to get her life together a bit when she’s offered a job by theatre director Lewis (Samuel Anderson), and gallery owner Judy, played by the very striking Olwen Four, shows interest in her painting.
Tezel and Fulton are two very engaging and pleasing young actors, who so convince us of their mutual attraction in the first part of the film that it’s almost frustrating that we have to wait so long for them to sort themselves out, before fate brings them together again. And when it does, will the magic still be there?
One flaw with the film is that it’s a little bit long drawn out but the romantics among us will forgive that. It is however notable for the fact that, including the leads, there’s not a household name in the cast. They are all experienced actors, many of whom have been working steadily in television, they all give first class performances and one wonders why many of them are not up there with the star names like Cumberbatch or Knightley. Just goes to show how much unsung talent there is among British actors, just waiting for the big break. This film is a talent spotter’s paradise.
