I don't remember ever falling in love with Red Road, a contemplative, subtle Scottish thriller. Still, when I wanted to to turn away, I couldn't. I wanted to see exactly where this illogical revenge scheme was headed. I wanted to see it finished.
The film follows Jackie (Kate Dickie), a CCTV operator who monitors Glasgow's Red Road housing projects. Her life is cautious and unexciting, mostly watching citizens go about their daily lives. But she's severely wounded by something that happened in her recent past. The wound isn't healing. When in her usual monitoring activities she sees a man who causes the wound, she quickly devises a scheme that she hopes will finally end her torment.
It's not long into the film that we can put together the truth of the tragic events that happened to Jackie and her family. It's also not long into the film that we meet the man responsible for the tragedy. He's out on probation, and Jackie abuses her power as a CCTV operator to ensure that she can send him back to jail. When he doesn't do anything except try and get his life together, Jackie decides to take action.
It's a surprising turn from a character so meek and so disengaged. But in the hands of Dickie, Jackie is transported on a hypnotic, morally dubious journey. Dickie is more responsible than anyone else involved in this production for keeping the audience entranced. Even before she literally bares everything, Dickie strips her character to the bone, exposing an inability to come to terms with the tragedy that has since defined her existence.
Kudos to director Andrea Arnold as she follows her Academy Award-winning short Wasp with the emotionally and intellectually complex telling of an uncomplicated narrative. More than anything Arnold proves to be an actor's director as she draws a stunning performance from not only the stellar Dickie, but also the other actors. Her direction of Dickie, however, may in fact be the defining reason to see this film. After all, it's not everyday that we get to see the launch of what will be a great directing career, and at the same time, the introduction of an equally great screen actor.
Special Features: The usual audio and subtitles. Those subtitles come in handy though if you're having trouble with the Scottish accents.
Article comments