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A look at THE WAR ZONE...
I love Tim Roth's work, but sure haven't heard that much about what is going on with this film. I'd love to hear more, or possibly see this one.
Lo, Harry. Long time reader, first time writer. I’m motivated to write
because last Saturday night, I witnessed a picture at the San Francisco
International Film Festival I feel to be truly special. It’s the best first
film I’ve seen since God Knows When, possibly the best film I’ve seen thus
far this year. What’s horrible is this film may never find the audience it
properly deserves (as far as I know, no American distribution has been
secured yet). I am talking about the directorial debut of British actor Tim
Roth, THE WAR ZONE.
The story is told from the perspective of 15 year old Tom (non-actor
Freddie Cunliffe), whose family has just moved from London to an isolated
seaside town of few people. Aside from the occasional visit from a cleaning
girl, the family appears to have little contact with the outside world. Dad
(Ray Winstone, some may remember from Gary Oldman’s NIL BY MOUTH) has just
moved his family here because of a supposedly promising job opportunity;
though the occasional phone-call quarrels with superiors suggest things have
been going less than well. His sister, Jessie (fellow non-actor Lara
Belmont), is a girl of 18 years old and almost shocking beauty, with a
womanliness well beyond her years. Mom (Tilda Swinton) has just gone through
the trauma of bearing a third child in the middle of nowhere after a car
accident en route the hospital.
It’s nice to see a movie in which the director actually lets the
characters BEHAVE, rather than telegraphing their emotions for us. I think
the film fest guide is correct in saying, “some of the most effective moments
are those where silence allows gestures and looks to speak volumes.” He
sometimes lets scenes run on when another director would have lopped them
off; he lingers on close-ups of his actor’s expressions and lets them wander
through wide shots of open countrysides.
Without giving too much away, I can say that Tom soon becomes
obsessed with the notion that his sister is conducting an incestuous
relationship with their father. Though his sister vehemently denies it, he
soon starts acting as detective between his father and sister with almost
frightening zeal. His suspicions are based solely on pretty flimsy evidence,
yet we can’t help but get caught up in his investigation. When we discover,
in one harrowing scene, that his suspicions are correct, it’s a shock—for him
and us.
Being a teenager, I can say that the reactions both children give
feel genuine. One of the most memorable scenes is one of the simplest: it’s
afterwards, as Tom has just learned their secret. He goes into his room,
pushes the cupboard over the door to barricade himself. He sullenly slouches
at the edge of his bed, gazing out the window as father—a tiny figure of
black on a field of green—appears, returning home.
Though this is certainly not an easy film, to take or to market, it’s
certainly one worth seeing and one I could see a distinct, if modest,
audience for – thanks to what I’m sure will be strong reviews (Roger Ebert
called THE WAR ZONE the finest film he saw at this year’s sundance film
festival.) It’s no more unmarketable than NIL BY MOUTH (and substantially
better, if you ask me) and I could see this ideal for someone like Sony
Picture Classics, Artisan, Lions Gate, a pre-Universal October, Fine Line, or
even something smaller like Stratosphere or Strand. Roth, while bearing a
resemblance to other British film makers like Ken Loach and Mike Leigh (NAKED
especially), he has a poetic eye reminding me of Atom Egoyan or Steven
Soderbergh (think a harsher KING OF THE HILL). THE WAR ZONE’s going to
Cannes this month, pray with me that it picks up US distribution there.
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That piece probably could have used a spoiler warning
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I've been looking forward to this film for quite a while now (Ray 'I'm the Daddy now' Winstone has been one of my favourite actors for a long time) - but the key plot-point revealed in the article really wasn't necessary. I know this film might not be released in the US, but it will come out in Blighty. SO PLEASE - warn us of the spoilers!!!!
PS I hope the fantastic Ray Winstone TV series 'Births Deaths and Marriages' comes to US television at some point - it was the best piece of drama I have seen in a long long time. -
I was at that showing too, and I have to say that the film was absolutely brutal. A lot of people there were grumbling about it going too far, and that the ending was a cop-out. Furthermore, the dedication "To my father" at the end of the credits was just downright creepy. I think the film does an excellent job of opening the taboo subject of parental sexual abuse, and the performances are shockingly genuine. However, the story is too up in the air for me. There is nothing "said" in the film other than this stuff is bad. I found it curiously weak this way, as did a number of people sitting around me (although one woman sitting in front of me turned around and said "Wasn't that brilliant?" I replied "It certainly was an eye-opener").
I certainly have seen better films recently, mostly at the festival itself. In regular release I preferred Election and Go! At the SFIFF, I enjoyed Divorce Iranian Style, Stop Making Sense, A Hard Day's Night, and The Winslow Boy, much more. My faorite SFIFF film so far is Run Lola Run, which is an amazingly kinetic film that grabs you in every way the medium allows. It was akin to the sensation I had seeing Pulp Fiction for the first time.
So although I respect what The War Zone represents, I couldn't shake the feeling that they dropped the ball in terms of story arc.
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Hello...yes...I wrote this...I apologize for the lack of spoilers, i figured Harry would put it at the beginning of the document. My fault completely. I apologize.
For me, it would have been wrong if the film WASN'T brutal in it's depiction of rape. And I personally liked the open ending--I wouldn't call it a cop-out in the slightest. I like the way the character are left hanging there. What I liked was the film wasn't "story" driven, per se; it was about the characters, it let THEM motivate the action forward, not just some screenwriter clicking away at keys behind a computer. that's why the tragic ending feels right. It's as if it couldn't end any other way.
-Graig
Saltpeter6@aol.com (I forgot to attatch my name to the end of the piece.)
And I agree: the "For my father" credit at the end was unsettling. -
Bullshit!
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I don't know if you know it, but although literate teens are a dying breed in this country, I AM ONE OF THEM AND I KNOW WE EXSIST. All though most of my peers are the "10 Things I Hate About You" type who Hollywood milks dry, there are those of us who appreciate the finer filmic things. Don't assume we're idiots, because if you do, we'll live up to your expectations!
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Happened to see the same SFIFF showing of Tim Roth's The War Zone as well...absolutely harrowing! Great performances by everybody, especially Ray Winstone (light years away from the young punk in Alan clarke's SCUM)and Lara Belmont as the daughter. I don't know who would distribute this in America, though...six years ago, the Weinstein Brothers might have snapped it up, before a certain parent company which will remain unnamed assumed an alpha-mouse stance regarding Miramax product (Dogma release pending, natch). 'Twould be a pity if this was never given a chance...I can't think of a more uncomfortable, disturbing, heart-wrenching, upsetting and beautifully mind-blowing film I've seen in a while...let's hope someone takes the integrity stance and gives this the treatment it richly deserves. Kudos to Tim Roth and all involved.
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I'm a big fan of Tim and so when I heard he was going to direct this (about two years ago) I bought the book. It's an incredable book and it scared me a lot because I was the same age as the lead character Tom at the time and I think I would have reacted in a similar way.
I've been desperate to see the film ever since. Knowing Tim has always been interested in being a DP I expect it'll be a beautifully shot film, making the subject matter even more frightening. It was a very brave subject to pick for your first film and I hope it gets the recognition it deserves.
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