Red Road

source: Red Road

You have to love the photography in this film: the lava lamp reflection in a window looking out onto inky night synchronised with an *. The very deliberate monochromatic lighting in the rooms, we go from yellow to blue almost as if we're watching a silent movie that has been tinted (clearly Arnold has been influenced by all phases of von Trier). These however are triumphs in despite of the script. For what we have here is another example of the cultural malaise that is the British 'Grim Up North' picture or what used to be known as a Kitchen-Sinker. This is the role of young British directors these days, to make austere, nasty films. Supposedly the only 'authentic' culture we have in Great Britain is that of the working class. Although to call the jobless reprobates that we often see in these movies 'working' class is a misnomer to put it only mildly. What UK cineastes mean by this term 'authentic' is very nebulous (after all who can objectively term an alcopop-fuelled culture of fornication, drug abuse, wage slavery, gambling and swearing authentic?), generally only being a reflection of their own middle-class self-hatred, their narcissistic despising of the bourgeois milieu that they belong to and prop up (perhaps a more appropriate response to this background would be along the lines of the Vienna Actionists?). Andrea Arnold herself is guilty of this. An interview on the UK DVD release is very telling in this respect, it's clear that she's really quite jealous of the people and culture that she has run into. She's also quite clear that she deliberately avoided shooting any of the affluent parts of Glasgow, or the 'nice fancy retail streets' as she calls them as if somehow consumerism were only part of the middle class experience. She also mentions that she is only interested in 'people who are up against it'. Which I suppose is what an American would correctly call a classic example of liberal guilt. There are excuses for this type of filming (the excesses of which border on paternalism), for example as a political polemic (The Last of England), or a horror movie (Dead Men's Shoes). But mainly the brand is about navel gazing, wallowing in class-bound angst and guilt, projecting our own sickness onto what Dickens described as 'the gaiety of the slums'. One excuse for this film might be that it has a political message about CCTV surveillance. In fact CCTV in this film is more about a metaphor of voyeurism, more of a middle class disease and seemingly not something that Jackie would be doing. The level of CCTV surveillance in the UK country is not really frightening anyway (another classic example of liberal middle-class paranoia) ,it is comforting . I speak as someone who has actually worked in a shop and has used CCTV to help get convictions against people behaving antisocially both inside and out. CCTV also helped to catch a criminal who robbed the shop and umpteen thrill-shoplifters. We are a long way away from the days of Edison when the paradigm of a film was that it was above all to be entertaining. One mustn't be too hard on Red Road though, the acting and photography are flawless after all. 6/10

I left the Edinburgh Film Festival Premier of Lynne Ramsay's Ratcatcher in the company of the Marketing Director of The Scottish Tourist Board a few years ago and he commented that "there's another Scottish movie we'll need to overcome." I feel sure he would have made the same comment on leaving Red Road. It's yet another depressingly bleak mood piece that Scotland (with the help of Denmark, through Zetropa Films) does so well. In fact one of the key characters in this movie is Glasgow; in particular the Red Road Estate and tower blocks. The Maldives it is not. And yet, amidst this bleak and desperately unforgiving landscape there are stolen moments of kindness, happiness and hope. The film is filmed in a Dogmeesque style (ie true to life with little or no special effects bar the closing music I suppose; which is haunting) but it feels rich and layered. The direction is outstanding and the cinematography gripping. The human characters are universally excellent (Kate Dickie, Tony Curran and a remarkably savage performance from Martin Compston - Whoah, I wouldn't like to sit next to him on a train to London.) It is a superb exploration of the human psyche, of remorse, bitterness and in a strange sort of way, redemption via a very clever and slowly unravelling plot and extremely believable dialogue. Yes, it's bleak. But, at it's heart I think it clearly demonstrates that there is good in everything. Well done BBC and Scottish screen for supporting this excellent piece of Scottish drama and not pulling any punches.

All of us, at sometime or another, have had to cope with grief. Most people do not 'get over' the death of a loved one, they learn to accommodate it, while knowing that on the inside they are changed forever. Some of us, unfortunately, also have to cope with causing hurt and destruction in the lives of others as a result of our own self-inflicted substance abuse. The subsequent guilt and self-loathing is never punishment enough. What Red Road asks of the audience, is to believe that two people whose lives become intertwined as a result of such actions would resolve their relationship in the fashion this story relates. Red Road is well-directed in terms of framing and drip-feeding the backstory to the audience, superbly acted, has admirable cinematography and creditable art direction. However, I did not believe this story. The script just did not have the power to achieve such towering heights of catharsis. Witness Clyde's final attempt at explanation for his horrible act: "This kind of thing happens every day. Sh#t happens." This is a line that conjures up no emotion at all, a cliché, from a character who did not deserve clichéd treatment. There are more glaring gaps in credibility - would the police not recognise the past connection between these two characters when she makes the rape charge? How can the CCTV footage of her escaping Red Road still be in the cupboard when it is evidence in an ongoing rape investigation? Can you really drop rape charges with just one phone call? And in a tale so grounded in realism, isn't it a heck of a coincidence that Clyde's daughter shows up when she does? This is a promising but not wholly convincing debut from Arnold. I would not call her a wise filmmaker, but she is certainly brave. Arnold is not Scottish, but by setting a film like this in Glasgow she invites comparisons with Lynne Ramsay - not because they are two of that rarest of creatures, the female director, but because stylistically and thematically they are so close. Let Ramsay do her thing (which she does very well), and hope that Arnold finds her own voice and style. I will certainly look out for her next film.

This film doesn't work for me; as another reviewer noted it is implausible anyone (let alone a police officer) would try such an evil trick on someone. The film reeks of political correctness... "everything is all right if an impaired driver killed someone" I thought the man had done something far worse to the police woman. No everything isn't all right a police employee spying (CCTV)on the population tries to stage and pin a rape on the person who accidentally killed her husband and daughter while driving impaired. She evidently wants him behind bars for life. While horrible the car accident occurred 8 years previously. Time heals normal people. No this story doesn't work not at all. The film itself works as porno for the 5 minute sex scene. In my fantasy ending Jackie (Kate Dickie) herself spends 8 years in prison for this aborted frame up. No make that 16 years hers was a premeditated crime his accidental.

If you enjoy being bored senseless, watch this film. There is so much wrong with it that it is difficult to know where to start, but the obvious place is the over-long completely unnecessary sex scene. I think it is very wrong to ask serious actors to perform such an explicit scene as this. Even it was plausible that she would try to set him up in this way, the scene does not need to be so long or explicit. (Unless of course the film was exploring her sexual frustration and needs, which it is not. She has already had a fumble in a car with a married man. So much for losing your husband - let's deprive another woman of hers). The whole premise for this type of revenge in the film is ridiculous anyway - would a woman who had lost her husband and daughter to this man's drug driving really be able to face having sex with him, never mind the intimacy of cunnilingus. I think not. And then suddenly she decides to drop charges - just like that. I think the police would have something to say about that. Another thing - an urn with the ashes of an adult male is surprisingly HEAVY - she carried the urns of her husband and daughter as if they were a loaf of bread. Also, i think this film needs subtitles - not for the thick Glaswegian accents but for the constant mumbling going on.

Reviews and articles about the film suggest it is suspenseful and a "thriller." It is not at all thrilling and the suspense is limited: on the contrary much of it is quite tedious at times and seems to be happening almost in real time, or even slow motion. The suspense was mainly wondering when the obvious back story would finally be said out loud and when it would occur to Jackie that her plan was ridiculous and doomed to failure. Bizarrely, it never does, leaving viewers wondering how why the director thinks the police and prosecutors in Glasgow are unable to connect dots. On the other hand, even if one can't quite quite suspend one's sense of disbelief, there are some interesting moments and shots in the film. The close observation of Jackie was interesting and could have been more interesting had the director allowed her simply to be an intelligent, thinking woman coming back from a tragedy. Instead, pretty much all the events were announced long before the happened. The sex scene is pretty much just disgusting and sick, not sexy.

Despite being British myself, I have to say I'm not a big fan of our modern film industry, and films like this are the reason why. Ever since the release of Trainspotting, it seems everyone wants to focus on the 'gritty' side of the country with 'realistic' films like this and it's a real shame because, like this example, most of them aren't up to much. The film is listed on this site as being a 'thriller' and nothing could be further from the truth. Red Road makes an episode of Eastenders look like Hitchcock in comparison and 'slow burning' is a misguided understatement! The film focuses on Jackie, a lonely Scottish woman who has a job watching security monitors. Her boring life gets a bit (and I mean 'a bit') more exciting one day when she spots a man on the monitor that she apparently recognises. It soon transpires that the man was once in prison but got an earlier release than expected. Jackie then decides to begin stalking him and soon the pair becomes 'romantically' involved. But clearly Jackie has a more sinister motive... One of the good things about watching movies is the 'escapist' element. I don't live in Scotland, but the people and places depicted in this film are quite similar to people and places where I live and to be honest it's not much fun to watch a film and be reminded of that fact. Director Andrea Arnold was obviously hoping to achieve realism and did, so I guess she deserves some plaudits for that but it didn't do much for me. The plot itself is very dull and since none of the lead characters are interesting, the film is a bit of a pain to get through. Lead performers Kate Dickie and Tony Curran give realistic performances but it doesn't help much in a movie practically devoid of interesting elements. The best part of the film comes about 20 minutes from the end when we get 'treated' to a surprisingly realistic and graphic sex scene. It doesn't last for long though and wasn't really worth the wait. It's a shame the film was mislabelled a thriller as otherwise I would never have bothered with it. Overall, this might appeal if you like slow burning boring films; but everyone else should stay clear.

It's one of those films that bombard you with vulgarity and never show any human relationships in a positive light. Most of the characters are damaged people and none of their activities are wholesome. The setting is as bleak as they can make it, although at least a fair bit of skill has gone into achieving this. It's misery-on-tap for those who need their filmic fix of purgatory. The CCTV angle of the plot is not developed very far, unfortunately. Instead we get to see the protagonist continue her surveillance work 'in the field' as she stalks a mysterious ex-con. While this generates a fair bit of tension, not a whole lot happens, and some of this stuff that does happen, you'll want to erase from your mind afterwards. The actors do well to carry such unappealing material, and the filming itself is memorable. However, the payoff at the end is simply not worth waiting for. Do yourself a favour and watch something more cheerful.

Having read previous comments about this movie I went into this with high expectations but found myself sorely disappointed. The movie has a few good points: well acted by all involved, directed in a very deliberate style that helps the overall feel of the film, the locale lends a gritty atmosphere that complements the characters involved. However the bad points are stronger than the good: the supposed twist is obvious from quite away out. The voyeuristic nature of the film keeps the characters too far away that when we should be caring about them we find ourselves looking for more extreme things to happen just to make things slightly more interesting. The sex involved feels exploitive as it it doesn't seem logical with the characters motivation, although this is resolved soon after. Ultimately the movie is unsatisfying, although an interesting curiosity that many may enjoy.