Red Road DVD Review

"Red Road" reviews

DVD

Red Road

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2007-02-23 16:01:23

Provider

DVD Review

Scotland, somewhat belatedly, enters the 'dogme' arena with this examination of life in the age of CCTV, the first in a planned trilogy.

Directed by Andrea Arnold, who won the Best Short Film Oscar in 2005 for Wasp, Red Road has viewers asking many questions from the outset as we join Jackie (Kate Dickie) in her job monitoring CCTV footage. We learn nothing about her background, so it's something of a mystery when she shows unusual interest in Clyde (Tony Curran).

She soon starts stalking him and ingratiating herself with his flatmates, Stevie (Martin Compston) and April (Natalie Press). It's at a party thrown by these two that Jackie and Clyde finally meet, beginning a strange flirtation that leads to another meeting where all their demons are laid bare.

The dogme style means no extra props, incidental music etc and Red Road admirably adheres to the rules even if the slow moving story suffers a little as a consequence. However, the performances make for a film that's as fascinating as a particularly intriguing capture on CCTV.