In Between Marion and Geoff

Finding words: Aesthetic criticism and television

“…Peacock responds to this quality in his writing, adopting a particularly economical mode of expression that is characterised by a series of relatively short, slight sentences. We might extend this to suggest that Peacock’s chosen style matches the look and feel of Marion and Geoff more generally, which he describes elsewhere as ‘stripped down’ in its ‘isolation of one character; the attention to one voice; the spare camera work; the minimalist rhythms of editing; the sparse nature of the soundtrack’ (Peacock, 2006: 116). The show is also restrictive in its consistent depiction of one man sitting in his car, and Peacock alludes to this quality as his choice of descriptive phrases conveys a sense of enclosure and discomfort: a ‘steering wheel jutting into the frame,’ the ‘car cooped in a train carriage,’ the ‘box window of the carriage,’ a ‘reflection of the carriage’s shutters,’ and the car ‘locked in, below the ground, between England and France.’ Crucially, Peacock does not directly state that the show’s mise-en-scène constructs a feeling of almost claustrophobic constraint but, instead, uses his description of objects and their relationship to setting as a means of embedding that feature at an almost subconscious level within his critical account.…”

“…Further solace is found in hugging a pair of rejected and returned soft toys to his chest, and in seeking ‘familiar sounds’ on the car radio. The trip (in screen-time) has lasted no more than five minutes, though Keith assures us that he has had a ‘lovely time, come on.’ (Peacock, 2006: 116–117).…”