sackleywhistle

As any follower of David Lynch's films may already know, his films are sometimes a little hard to follow. One of his more recent efforts, Lost Highway, was perhaps his most unrepentantly perplexing film to date. Following from the much more straightforward (no pun intended) The Straight Story, came this, an aborted TV series pilot - a companion piece to his earlier Twin Peaks if you will - finished off and rounded out to become his surreal masterpiece.

It hardly seems worthwhile trying to summarise the narrative or plot, but suffice to say it concerns a matter of missing identity, an actress new to Hollywood, a director under pressure and a string of dreams and secrets. By no means a film for all tastes, it is nevertheless intangibly brilliant - even though on first viewing you may be completely confused as to what you saw, it is impossible to deny the skill with which it was made and the power that several sequences hold.It is Lynch's sure hand that guides you, reassuring you that even if it makes no sense or it goes over your head, it still all works, thanks to canny, pitch-perfect performances and a series of icons and symbols which recur at key moments.

In many ways, the film is a puzzle box, doubling back on itself and shuffling between realms, leaving traces of the truth, but no clear answers. And where the film succeeds beyond description is in atmosphere. There are moments that will have you close to tears, even though you won't know why exactly. Others will have you terrified, though lost. It is worth mentioning that there are moments of pure erotica here as well, both beautiful and raw.

When all is said and done, the film exists in a field separate from most others, leaving not just a distinct experience, but a sound and a style, nearly a taste all of its own. Lynch has created a vision that only makes sense in the realm of a dream - a realm where things do not necessarily follow on from one another, nor do they at first fit together, but taken as a whole leave you with a sense of the emotions and feelings of those involved.

Upon repeat viewings, there are noticeable details that help fill in some of the blanks and having seen it several times now, I view the film - by the time it has ended - as a harsh satire of human selfishness and cruelty and greed. But a brilliantly acted and gorgeously shot one, quite unlike anything else I've seen. For anyone looking for something provocative, daring, different or just wanting to sink their teeth into a mystery, I cannot recommend this film highly enough.

Having not seen any of Shane Meadows' earlier efforts before seeing this, I cannot compare it to them, but I certainly understand all the hype about this young filmmaker from this film alone.

What on paper is basically Get Carter in the North is in actuality almost impossible to define. It has the basic plot of a revenge film, maybe even of a slasher film, yet is not a thriller, nor a horror film. Moreso, it is a drama about real people, played incredibly naturalistically by all involved, that happens to involve a series of murders driven by vengeance (for what, we are unsure until the final act).

At the centre is an electrifying, funny, touching and terrifying performance from Paddy Considine as protagonist Richard, proving once more that he truly is one of the most interesting and gifted actors to come out of Britain in a long time. He can go from calm and pleasant to truly menacing and back again in a second and it never seems hammy or over-egged.

Surrounding him are a group of extremely solid supporting actors, most notably first-timer Toby Kebbell playing his slightly mentally-handicapped brother Anthony. Given only a few lines of dialogue and some disturbing scenes of physicality, he crafts a rounded, sympathetic and slightly pathetic character. His scene with Considine where they reminisce about an old football match is a masterclass of performance and writing, minimalistically crafting layers of character through nuance and very little dialogue.

Also notable is Gary Stretch (who stood out in his small part as Cleitus in Alexander) who here plays the truly despicable antagonist, Sonny. He's a scumbag drug-dealing club owner who is at the very heart of the events Ricahrd is avenging, and who never shows any remorse, instead going on the war path to little avail. He too has a breathtaking scene with Considine when Sonny first confronts Richard and Richard shows no fear whatsoever. Genuinely electric.

Indeed, the film is filled with unique takes on staple ideas of the revenge/slasher film, all the while finding the human truth to the actions of those involved and delivered with a combination of hand-held realism and wistful detachment. Some have mentioned that the film carries a twist towards the end, but because of the execution it does not feel like a twist. Rather it is the culmination of a sub-plot running through the film, as the pieces of the flashbacks from years before come together.

Nothing in the film feels forced and that is perhaps the highest praise the film and its makers can be given. If the story had been a true one, it would certainly not come as a surprise, given the motivations and actions of the thoroughly believable characters. Yet, it is at times extremely harrowing, uncomfortable and unsettling - not because of excessive amounts of gore (while the film contains violence, it is the weight of the violence and not flashy blood and guts that carry impact), but because of the way the events unfold. One prolonged sequence involves a drug trip and the scene seems to last longer than it probably actually does, mirroring the state of the drug-takers, and ending with the most unsettling acts of violence in the film.

When everything is concluded, there are no real happy endings and the climax is certainly not one that can be guessed or easily foreseen. But there is a profound and sad poetry to it somehow, despite the pathos it leaves the viewer with. And after the credits roll, I found it to be a film that stayed with me for some time after - indeed, I am still trying to shake it from my mind. While certainly nowhere near as graphic or violently upsetting as a film like Irreversible, it is easy to draw comparisons as this is a film which tackles notions of human nature and the horrible things people do to one another, all shot through with considerable style and skill (think Hal Ashby meets Michael Winterbottom) and performed by actors who never seem to be giving performances, but rather becoming those characters for 90 minutes. And, of course, it was made by actors and a filmmaker among the most exciting to emerge in recent years, just as was Irreversible.

A haunting, brilliant and sometimes profound experience in film-making and one of the best British films in a decade.