Tuesday, June 7, 2011

RED ROAD (2006)

[Update 03/09/2021: Need to redo this review completely. Fix the screenshots also.]

Jackie works as a street security camera operator. She spends her working hours looking over and protecting the people in her area. She seems happy enough, but there is a cloud of sadness hanging over her that the viewer can't quite figure out. Then one evening she sees a man on her screen and she's obviously shaken. She soon become obsessed with watching him all the time...even when she's not at work. She steals security tapes from work to watch at home and even starts trailing him in real life. How far will she go and what exactly is her obsession with this man?

If you're familiar with writer/director Andrea Arnold's work you know what you're going to get: a strong story, well-constructed characters and beautiful, naturalistic camerawork. RED ROAD is a good film, but compared to Andrea's masterpiece FISH TANK or even her short film WASP, it's kinda slow. I liked the movie and recommend watching it, but the pace dragged a few times and I wish there had been a more heightened sense of tension concerning the mystery character.

I honestly think this would have made a better short film, say around 45 minutes or so.