In the opening scene of Lone Scherfig's second film, Wilbur (Jamie Sives) chugs down a bottle of pills and turns on the gas oven, sits down in front of the open door, and waits to die. And then the stove breaks.
Wilbur is something of a laughing stock in the suicide survivors support group of his small Scottish town. He's not out of the hospital for a full day before he tries – and fails – again. Drowning, hanging, slitting his wrists, nothing works for hapless Wilbur; not with his older brother Harbour (Adrian Rawlins), proprietor of a used book store, watching out for him. Lone Scherfig plays many of these suicide attempts for laughs, and her ploys always work.
Suicide, however, is not a funny subject, and "Wilbur Wants To Kill Himself" is not a comedy. As in the gentle wounded creatures in her wonderful, first film "Italian For Beginngers," Scherfig's characters have the uncanny ability to find happiness in their compromised circumstances. Everyone in Wilbur's world is dealing with grief in their own idiosyncratic ways. Wilbur tries suicide; Harbour, mourning the recent death of his father and the potential demise of his bother, takes care of the store. And then there is Alice (Shirley Henderson), a cleaning woman at the hospital who makes extra income selling books she finds in waiting rooms.
Suicide, however, is not a funny subject, and "Wilbur Wants To Kill Himself" is not a comedy. As in the gentle wounded creatures in her wonderful, first film "Italian For Beginngers," Scherfig's characters have the uncanny ability to find happiness in their compromised circumstances. Everyone in Wilbur's world is dealing with grief in their own idiosyncratic ways. Wilbur tries suicide; Harbour, mourning the recent death of his father and the potential demise of his bother, takes care of the store. And then there is Alice (Shirley Henderson), a cleaning woman at the hospital who makes extra income selling books she finds in waiting rooms.
The depiction of the romance between Harbour and Alice is deftly laid out, quickly consummated, and affecting. These are two lonely people who need and want each other. (There is a terrific early scene in their abbreviated courtship when Harbour awkwardly pulls a piece of chewing gum from her dark hair.) Henderson is a winning actress, awkwardly beautiful, unhinged and unpredictable.
After Alice and Harbour join forces, the film takes a brief happy turn; even suicidal Wilbur benefits from their unexpected marriage. But life is often hard and unfortunate events follow, with a resolution that, if not surprising, is rich and satisfying. Lone Scherfig directs from her own screenplays; in both of her films, you are left with the vivid sense that the filmmaker loves her creations, even the smaller characters: Horst, the Danish doctor who takes constant abuse from his patients, the lonely nurse Moira who eats organic food and is famous for her long nose hair, and Alice's daughter Mary, with her long braids and big eyes, who takes such pure delight in her new family.
After Alice and Harbour join forces, the film takes a brief happy turn; even suicidal Wilbur benefits from their unexpected marriage. But life is often hard and unfortunate events follow, with a resolution that, if not surprising, is rich and satisfying. Lone Scherfig directs from her own screenplays; in both of her films, you are left with the vivid sense that the filmmaker loves her creations, even the smaller characters: Horst, the Danish doctor who takes constant abuse from his patients, the lonely nurse Moira who eats organic food and is famous for her long nose hair, and Alice's daughter Mary, with her long braids and big eyes, who takes such pure delight in her new family.
