Dir. Jan Dunn, UK , 2005, 99 mins
Cast: Pauline McLynn, Chloe Sirene, Paul McGann, Rula Lenska
Review by Carol Allen This is the first UK film to observe the Dogme "rules of chastity" philosophy - hand held camera (held impressively steady by DOP Jacob Vilt Kusk), natural lighting, all shot on location, no special effects etc, and writer/director Jan Dunn and producer Elaine Wickham are to be congratulated in what they have achieved with £40,000 and a 13 day shoot.
Set in a seaside town on the Kent coast,
the film deals with a poverty stricken English family and
their differing attitudes to a Romany Czech refugee. The
story is told from three points of view Rashomen style, a
technique which, when it works, can throw new light on previous
events by revisiting them. In the case of this movie,
it doesn't always succeed in doing this and I wonder if this
particular story might have benefited from a simpler, more
linear structure. The three main characters are
kindly but despairing Helen (McLynn), worn down by years
of marriage to Paul (McGann), her repressive and racist husband,
and Tasha (Sirene), the refugee girl herself. The
least successful segment is that from Paul's point of view.
The sensitive nature of McGann's whole demeanor mitigates
against the brutishness and petty mindedness of the character
and his racist speeches sound contrived and heavy with director's
message. I was a bit puzzled by the racist taunts overall
in the film. Irena (Lenska) as Tasha's mother
perhaps looks a bit “foreign” but Tasha's clothes and demeanour
are pretty much the same as any English teenager. How
can they tell that she is what they term a "gypo"? The
structured but improvisational nature of the dialogue succeeds
to varying degrees, depending on the skill of the actors,
sometimes sounding stilted and artificial, while at other
times effectively naturalistic. There are also
frequent and puzzling cutaways to very pleasing views of
Thanet by night and the shoreline, which serve no discernible
purpose in terms of furthering the story.
McLynn though is affecting as Helen, Lenska
is excellent as Irena, in terror of the brutal husband from
whom she is fleeing, and talented newcomer Sirene in her
first film role is self assured and engaging as Tasha. The
last section told from her point of view, when she and her
mother are kidnapped by their respective husbands, generates
real tension and narrative surprises with a very well directed
and exciting chase sequence on foot.
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