Dir. Shane Meadows, 2004, UK, 90 mins
Cast:
Paddy Considine, Toby Kebbell, Gary Stretch, Stuart Wolfenden, Neil Bell, Paul Sadot, Seamus O'Neill, Paul Hurstfield, Jo Hartley, Emily Aston, George Newton
Taking its cue from films of the 60's and 70's based on the premise of the lone vigilante exacting violent revenge (such as Get Carter, Death Wish, and Straw Dogs), Dead Man's Shoes could be seen as the antithesis of the self-congratulatory hyper-mayhem of Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill. While Uma Thurman's Bride went on her "Roaring Rampage of Revenge" with an almost cartoonish joviality, Paddy Considine's character Richard goes about his killing spree in a crueller and more measured fashion, while gradually revealing the mental agony that has lead him to believe that bloodshed is his only way to find peace. "God will forgive them. He will forgive them and let them into Heaven. I can't live with that".
Returning to their hometown in the Midlands, Richard and his simple-minded brother Anthony (Kebbell) seek out the members of a drug-dealing gang who tortured and abused Anthony after Richard left home to join the army. Dressed in an army jacket and gasmask, Richard sets out to kill them all one by one.
Co-written by Considine and Britain's own Indie-wunderkind Shane Meadows (24/7, A Room for Romeo Brass, Once Upon a Time in the Midlands), the film was initially conceived as a farcical comedy. Only in the process of writing did the dark and disturbing story of revenge come to the fore. With its blend of down-to-earth social realism, character-driven farce and its moments of violence and terror, Dead Man's Shoes comes across as a kind of Ken Loach/Mike Leigh/slasher film hybrid. This comparison, however, would be unfair to Meadows and Considine who have managed to produce a film that feels so fresh and new it is almost as if each scene came as a total surprise to everyone involved in making it. This home grown, almost organic, feel to the film produces an atmosphere of immediacy and authenticity, and this ultimately breaths new life into any predictable horror/revenge film clichés.
Shot on a miniscule budget and with a bare-minimum crew, the film relies heavily on its actors, and with great performances from everyone involved, it's not a surprise it works so well. As the slightly bumbling drug-dealers, Bell, Sadot, O'Neill, Newton and especially Wolfenden (his final acid-fuelled confrontation with Richard is extremely moving), give some great comedic touches as they all begin to panic at the knowledge that Richard is back in town. Gary Stretch as Sonny, the boss of the gang, manages to blend some genuinely terrifying hard-man moments with a scared vulnerability, giving us a character we despise and feel sorry for at the same time. Kobbell gives a stunning performance as the innocent Anthony, and the flashbacks to the abuse dished out to him by the gang (shown in grainy black and white) are extremely convincing, and it is difficult to believe that this marks his acting debut.
Considine's performance, however, shines through as the haunted, self-appointed executioner, Richard. What makes this character so engaging is that he believes what he is doing is for the best and that none of it is his fault - if they had just left his brother alone he wouldn't be killing anybody. Considine expresses this perfectly with a dangerous air of unpredictability, we are never sure whether he is going to crack a smile or spit in our faces. The last act of the film, when Richard confronts the final gang member and discovers the extent of the abuse and torture his brother received, provides us with an extremely affecting scene of Richard's release from his all-consuming anger and guilt. After all of the blood-shed, he admits "I am the monster!"
Dead Man's Shoes is an extremely funny, moving, disturbing and terrifying film, proving that with the right equipment, a good idea, some fine actors, and a barrow-load (or two) of talent, a great film need not rely on elephantine budgets, special effects, or upper-management say-so.
Angus Macdonald
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