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jackcleere
Reviews
Red Road (2006)
Arnold's fantastical, first rodeo
The bold and brilliant debut by Andrea Arnold follows Katie Dickie as a grieving mother and cctv operator.. who seeks brutal vengeance against the drug addict who ended her daughter's life. I'll start by complimenting the way the cinematography and script compliments the pain of our protagonist. You really feel the overarching silence surrounding her existence, and her isolation with every shot. Leaving her revenge mission to feel a quiet revolution to the empty void as opposed to a genuine pursuit of justice.
Our main villain played perfectly by Tony Curran is the complete antithesis of her moral code a drunken Jack the lad who hides in the same silence but for very different, much more sinister reasons. He becomes a sort of Dragon to her self righteous St George and allows her to step into her character whilst creating a tussle for the ages.
I'm not a fan of the third act of the film personally and like others can't understand how rape charges were pressed and dropped with the flick of a button. It feels like far too much chaos was summoned in the first hour to be settled in 20 minutes but it's one of those exterior aesthetic films that relies on visual, physical storytelling instead of the finer details. Even if the ending doesn't resonate with me I can very very much appreciate the sentiment and culmination of this art piece :)
Sugar Rush (2005)
An underrated, punk rock dramody
My god this series was ahead of its time... it has that skins/shameless kind of allure two it and sugar is the perfect object of interest with her effy stonem persona, a true British icon. Kim is a complex protagonist who is extremely difficult to get behind however, I think she embodies the angst and untamed frustration of many queer teens. Even though I didn't want to to relate to her I ultimately did. Together the two girls are a match made in hell.. the perfect gruesome twosome to carry such a fiesty/unrelenting show. The family are brilliantly performed and balance them well. Cancelling this was a big mistake by channel 4 and a definite indication of the times. I don't blame the lead actresses for condemning the decision so hard. A true tragedy.