I feel ashamed to admit that this is the first Shane Meadows film i've seen. I remember Twenty-Four Seven getting rave reviews a few years ago and Shane Meadows being talked up as the saviour of young, British cinema and if Dead Man's Shoes is anything to go by, I can see why.
In tackling an essentially well-worn, popular genre - revenge, by way of a slasher film - Meadows has produced something different, as edgy and electric and grimy as Mike Leigh's Naked or the original Get Carter. But there is no room for cool death sequences or witty one-liners. This is about real people doing horrible things to one another.
At the heart of it is a star-making performance from Paddy Considine, every bit as gifted and electrifying as a young Robert De Niro, delivering every line, no matter how innocuous, with tangible menace and realism. His intentions are explicit from the get-go, before we see any of the major characters - "God will forgive them. He'll forgive them and allow them into heaven. I can't live with that". And once we meet the antagonists, while they are entertaining, even sympathetic to a point, we know they are scum.
One by one, he sets about confusing them, playing with their heads and eventually killing them. The reasons are unclear at first, but we know it has something to do with his slightly mentally handicapped brother Anthony(astonishing, heart-breaking performance from newcomer Toby Kebbell), drugs and their manipulation of him while Richard (Considine) was in the army.
What makes this film so unsettling is the realism of the whole endeavour. It all takes place in a sub-standard area of the midlands (think the English version of La Haine's slums) and the main characters are all drug-dealing nobodies, likely unnoticed by the law in a fairly run-down part of the country. These are working-class characters all the way. The language and interaction between them is completely believable which makes the circumstances they find themselves in all the more harrowing - it could easily happen this way to anyone.
At first, it seems Richard's plans could be along the lines of the Count of Monte Cristo as he sets about toying with them, humiliating them and causing distrust among the individual characters, especially Herbie (the main dealer) and Sonny (the head honcho, who owns and runs a shitty club), played by Gary Stretch, a formidable actor best recognised as Cleitus in Alexander (Colin Farrell runs him through with a spear after a fantastic argument).
But once the first of them dies, it is apparent their days are numbered and those numbers don't stretch to double figures. One of the stand-out scenes comes when the six men who are marked for death are driving around in a 2CV - a ridiculously small car - looking for Richard and drive past him. Sonny gets out and walks over to him, offering his hand. When it is refused, Sonny - whose house was broken into and makeup painted all over his face the night before - says to Richard, "They've got this crazy idea -" and before he can recount anything, Richard butts in, without a hint of care and says "Yeah, it was me."
The whole film fizzles with exchanges like this, Richard being a character without fear. He uses his military experience to be invisible and prey on these doped-up junkies. Indeed, there is a prolonged, deeply uncomfortable sequence where he spikes their tea with a huge amount of acid and then swoops in as they go through a heavy trip.
When the reveal of what actually happened to Anthony years before comes, it throws new light onto everything that came before. Traditionally, this would be a "twist" before the final act, but it doesn't feel like it here, merely the final piece of a fractured narrative that has run throughout the flm (we see glimpses of the past as the story unfolds). It does present the question of Richard's mental state - obviously he has murderous rage in him, but perhaps he is even more damaged than we at first believe.
This is answered, to some degree, by a staggering final scene, unlike the ending to any other slasher film you have seen. In fact, this is a slasher film only by name, bearing the essential plot outline of such a film, without any of the genre's hallmarks. Much more, it is a human drama, taking place amongst a group of characters who are in the final days of their lives.
Its an incredibly rich film, with characters well-drawn from minimal exposition - the scene where Richard and Anthony sit back-to-back, talking about a football match years before is a masterclass in character development, minimalistic dialogue and performance - crammed with disturbing concepts and no easy conclusions. The acting is excellent all-round, as is the editing and score and it is guaranteed to leave you chilled for some time afterward.
Definitely one of the very best modern "horror" entries (think Halloween by way of Ken Loach) and one of the best British films of the decade, if not ever. Paddy Considine is here to stay and that is truly something to rejoice about.
In tackling an essentially well-worn, popular genre - revenge, by way of a slasher film - Meadows has produced something different, as edgy and electric and grimy as Mike Leigh's Naked or the original Get Carter. But there is no room for cool death sequences or witty one-liners. This is about real people doing horrible things to one another.
At the heart of it is a star-making performance from Paddy Considine, every bit as gifted and electrifying as a young Robert De Niro, delivering every line, no matter how innocuous, with tangible menace and realism. His intentions are explicit from the get-go, before we see any of the major characters - "God will forgive them. He'll forgive them and allow them into heaven. I can't live with that". And once we meet the antagonists, while they are entertaining, even sympathetic to a point, we know they are scum.
One by one, he sets about confusing them, playing with their heads and eventually killing them. The reasons are unclear at first, but we know it has something to do with his slightly mentally handicapped brother Anthony(astonishing, heart-breaking performance from newcomer Toby Kebbell), drugs and their manipulation of him while Richard (Considine) was in the army.
What makes this film so unsettling is the realism of the whole endeavour. It all takes place in a sub-standard area of the midlands (think the English version of La Haine's slums) and the main characters are all drug-dealing nobodies, likely unnoticed by the law in a fairly run-down part of the country. These are working-class characters all the way. The language and interaction between them is completely believable which makes the circumstances they find themselves in all the more harrowing - it could easily happen this way to anyone.
At first, it seems Richard's plans could be along the lines of the Count of Monte Cristo as he sets about toying with them, humiliating them and causing distrust among the individual characters, especially Herbie (the main dealer) and Sonny (the head honcho, who owns and runs a shitty club), played by Gary Stretch, a formidable actor best recognised as Cleitus in Alexander (Colin Farrell runs him through with a spear after a fantastic argument).
But once the first of them dies, it is apparent their days are numbered and those numbers don't stretch to double figures. One of the stand-out scenes comes when the six men who are marked for death are driving around in a 2CV - a ridiculously small car - looking for Richard and drive past him. Sonny gets out and walks over to him, offering his hand. When it is refused, Sonny - whose house was broken into and makeup painted all over his face the night before - says to Richard, "They've got this crazy idea -" and before he can recount anything, Richard butts in, without a hint of care and says "Yeah, it was me."
The whole film fizzles with exchanges like this, Richard being a character without fear. He uses his military experience to be invisible and prey on these doped-up junkies. Indeed, there is a prolonged, deeply uncomfortable sequence where he spikes their tea with a huge amount of acid and then swoops in as they go through a heavy trip.
When the reveal of what actually happened to Anthony years before comes, it throws new light onto everything that came before. Traditionally, this would be a "twist" before the final act, but it doesn't feel like it here, merely the final piece of a fractured narrative that has run throughout the flm (we see glimpses of the past as the story unfolds). It does present the question of Richard's mental state - obviously he has murderous rage in him, but perhaps he is even more damaged than we at first believe.
This is answered, to some degree, by a staggering final scene, unlike the ending to any other slasher film you have seen. In fact, this is a slasher film only by name, bearing the essential plot outline of such a film, without any of the genre's hallmarks. Much more, it is a human drama, taking place amongst a group of characters who are in the final days of their lives.
Its an incredibly rich film, with characters well-drawn from minimal exposition - the scene where Richard and Anthony sit back-to-back, talking about a football match years before is a masterclass in character development, minimalistic dialogue and performance - crammed with disturbing concepts and no easy conclusions. The acting is excellent all-round, as is the editing and score and it is guaranteed to leave you chilled for some time afterward.
Definitely one of the very best modern "horror" entries (think Halloween by way of Ken Loach) and one of the best British films of the decade, if not ever. Paddy Considine is here to stay and that is truly something to rejoice about.
No comments:
Post a Comment