Scars

A heart emerges in real life in this a story of an unusual return to family. Chris, the main character, was born into a paranoid and unforgiving childhood, educated to give pain to men, and distance to women. His comments on his mother are strangely disconnected and observational, as if she had been a passive, almost absent presence. His father, however, taught him to respond with an overwhelming disproportionate violence to any threat - however slight - to evoke terror. Through dialogue with the film-maker, Chris reveals his past, and how his new partner and child have led him to a new understanding. Chris' real-life words and his interaction with the film-maker are re-played with astounding conviction by Jason Isaacs.

I caught this on More4 recently. I thought it was going to be a documentary but with the excellent Isaacs in it I knew it was going to be a good drama. But it's done in documentary style and your whole interest lies on whether you want to see JI doing a series of vignettes to camera. He plays a former violent psycho who has tried to amend his ways and Leo Regan films his confessionals in a set of one-on-ones. If you are not a fan of the actor it's best to stay clear but it is a brilliant study in working class, violent,drink and drug macho ism and what makes a man like him tick. I know guys like him honestly and I grew up in areas like his. He's the sort of guy you don't mess with in a pub. His speech patterns and ideals are exactly like many blokes I've known. Isaacs is truly menacing and absorbing at one and the same time. Great piece of work from a great actor working back home for a change.

When director Leo Regan first met Chris he found the man to be enigmatic but violent and angry and personal questions were met with "f**k off". A few years later he met Chris again and found he had changed; he had moved to the country, gotten married and become a father. This reformed Chris agreed to tell his story to Leo under the understanding that if Chris or his family got hurt then Leo would get hurt. He talks to him about his days of violence and his formative days with his family.

Despite not being overly taken by Regan's work on Comfortably Numb, I decided to give this film a try since I had found his mix of reality and acting on that film interesting at least. With Scars the focus is tighter as it is essentially no more than recreations of a series of interviews with a man who has moved beyond his violent past and is now talking about it. It sounds simple and perhaps offers limited interest but it is actually fascinating. It is so because it offers an insight into a world of sudden and brutal violence that few of us will hopefully ever experience. We all know people in pubs who look for fights and will "glass people" over nothing, Chris is one of them – someone you just want to get away from. However by listening from the safety of your living room it is easy to focus on him without the fear but yet the film is still chilling, disturbing and upsetting. Some viewers have argued over the point of the film (it isn't a fun night in) but it is valuable to see such a person open up about their acts and talk to the point where you begin to understand parts of his character.

This is not to suggest that the film does anything as crass as delivering excuses or causes for who he is, because it doesn't, or at least not in this way. Instead it just allows this person to talk and in doing so it builds a picture that equally shows the excitement and power or violence as much as it does the pain and regret to everyone involved. It is compelling although it is hard to watch at times. Because this is a re-enactment, the delivery of the lines is key because one would assume that it would never be as convincing as the real person talking themselves. However, if this is the case then Isaacs gets as close as possible. He is tremendous here. I was watching this at the same time as taping "The State Within" in which he also stars and it is to his credit that he made both in the same year but yet one is unrecognisable when put alongside the other. At no point does he step out of his character and his delivery is true – he manages to mix regret with excitement, to align these contrasting emotions to maintain a complex character that is utterly convincing.

Overall then, a difficult film to watch (and find) but one that is fascinating. There is no story but it makes for an insightful character study of a violent man who is superficially just a thug but has reaching a point of hurt and regret and is struggling to really cope with it. Regan is at his best when he stays out of the way and just lets Isaacs deliver his powerful and convincing performance – which is the heart of this compelling film.

Jason Isaacs is a great actor but even he surpasses himself in this TV drama shown recently on Channel 4. His portrayal of a now domesticated bad boy is spot-on. I mean it. SPOT-ON. I've never seen an actor so realistically portray such a thug as he did here. I know people like the character he plays here. I've mixed in pubs where you have to get out pronto if someone like him looked at you the wrong way. Isaacs- for a Scouse-born actor is note perfect in his portrayal of the macho, masochistic, violent Londoner. His voice is just like every older geezer I've been around all my life. I see him in pubs all the time. The sheer power of his menacing turn here is in the raw documentary style but Isaacs never once falls back into a seemingly showy act-orly style. It's just in the mannerisms and dialogue. There is not one iota of violence on screen and yet the sheer dread you feel is from the performance. He plays a nasty piece of work without once actually being nasty. I truly haven't seen anyone play such a realistic role. I know it comes from the fact that I identify with people like the one he plays but I am still a fan of acting and good actors. I thought Carlyle's vicious portrayal of Begbie in Trainspotting and all of Nil By Mouth was good till I saw Jason Isaacs here. He is truly menacing. Great, great drama that should have got a wider audience.

A piece of drama such as this can only be pulled off with an actor of enormous depth and talent. I wasn't a huge fan of Jason Isaacs before i saw 'scars', i always thought he was a good solid actor, but never saw him in a role that moved me or that was genuinely outstanding. He deserves all the praise in the world for his portrayal of 'chris', i have not seen a better performance for a long, long time.

I would strongly urge you to seek this excellent drama out, a tale of a violent man desperately trying to change for his young son and partner, realising that he can never undo the violence and pain he has inflicted on others. 'i fear for my son so much, that he will bump into someone like me one day'. see it if you can