Red Road (2006)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Anthony L

  
  Voyeurism, revenge, loss and healing - Age old issues brilliantly brought to life in this intense and suspenseful thriller. Kate Dickie's performance is brutally real as is the film itself, unsurprising really as this is part of a challenge from Dogme director Lars Von Trier as… More
  Voyeurism, revenge, loss and healing - Age old issues brilliantly brought to life in this intense and suspenseful thriller. Kate Dickie's performance is brutally real as is the film itself, unsurprising really as this is part of a challenge from Dogme director Lars Von Trier as part of his The Advance Party manifesto. The intrigue is almost unbearable (In the best possible way). I've been a big fan of Andrea Arnold for many years, although not always as a director, I fell in love with her as a young boy when she was in No 73 on Saturday mornings. Anyway - She's a great director now and this is a brilliant film, criminally overlooked it seems. Looking forward to seeing Fish Tank and to seeing the next of three The Advance Party films, starting with Morag McKinnon's Donkeys, if only I could find it. Great stuff!

• Lanning :

  
  There's something very appealing about withholding the full story from an audience until the end. If it's done right. With <i>Red Road</i>, it's not done very well. What the folks involved in this project wanted to do, I'm sure, is create suspense.… More
  There's something very appealing about withholding the full story from an audience until the end. If it's done right. With <i>Red Road</i>, it's not done very well. What the folks involved in this project wanted to do, I'm sure, is create suspense. Mission not accomplished. By the time you understand the whole story, you really don't care.

• Drew S

  
  A tough, surprising movie that is nonetheless limned with "I've Loved You So Long Syndrome" - that is, the obfuscation of the plot to extend an ultimately thin story to feature length. What makes this tough narrative conceit work in Red Road is that Jackie is obviously… More
  A tough, surprising movie that is nonetheless limned with "I've Loved You So Long Syndrome" - that is, the obfuscation of the plot to extend an ultimately thin story to feature length. What makes this tough narrative conceit work in Red Road is that Jackie is obviously such a broken, lonely woman that there's really no need to exhume her personal tragedies. She has no tangible support system to discuss her past with, short of some passively hostile and generally removed in-laws. Where Kristin Scott Thomas was surrounded by people who cared about her in I've Loved You So Long, and was completely unable to conjure up why she was imprisoned for them, the main character here has no real reason to share. This movie is also superbly controlled, vaguely peppered with disturbing themes like voyeurism and abuse, not as an immediate concern of the plot but merely to enhance our view of Jackie's situation. Her position as a City Guard watchperson, as I understand it, empowers her in a way that she probably never got to experience in her past, not to mention the escapist thrills it provides by looking into someone else's life. I don't know if they were intentional or not, but there are some really thoughtful questions that Jackie's choice of profession brings up; how reliable are a human's hands in a position like this? She seems to be good at her job, but utterly fallible when confronted with a reminder of her horrifying past, which reveals itself to have consequences. It really made me wonder about the moral and political ramifications of placing cameras all over a city under the guise of "protecting its citizens," which I do not have to contend with in America but am still curious as to the reactions of those who do. Whether this subtext is just me making things up or Andrea Arnold being exceptionally insightful in a quiet sort of way, it really speaks to Red Road's non-linearity and thematic freedom. Jackie, in herself, is so complex and unusual that she seems liable to do just about anything; the movie feels like it could go anywhere at any time. Kate Dickie's performance is commendable. She reminded me of a filtration of Tilda Swinton's Julia (two years her predecessor, anyway), more rigid morally but just as miserable and against-the-wall enough that her options are limitless. What more does she have to lose? Dickie is a wisp, sad and ephemeral, and her presence is like a hook in the viewer's gut. Her efforts in the movie's final scenes are shattering. This is not to discredit the fantastic work of her supporting cast, including Tony Curran as her scene partner in one of the most lucid, surprising scenes of "intimacy" I've seen. It is clear that Arnold, in participating in this experiment (Lars von Trier challenged three directors to make different movies with the same cast of characters and this is the first result), had a clear vision of what she wanted to do with her characters and how specifically to embody them. The actors she selected are perfect in what they project.

• William S

  
  A great Glasgow set thriller with noir elements and nods to Hitchcock's Rear Window. It's also heavily influenced by the Dogme style of film-making - it breaks far too many of the rigid 'anti-cinematic' rules of that style of film-making to be called a true Dogme… More
  A great Glasgow set thriller with noir elements and nods to Hitchcock's Rear Window. It's also heavily influenced by the Dogme style of film-making - it breaks far too many of the rigid 'anti-cinematic' rules of that style of film-making to be called a true Dogme film. Thank God! It's far too cinematic for that! But, then again, maybe that is the whole point of the Dogme rulebook - so that film-makers can brake those rules! To challenge them even and make them less complacent and lazy? (take away the tools and imagination becomes a greater force). I hope so. Otherwise, why bother?? I knew very little about Red Road before I saw it. It's the best way to come to the majority of cinema but sometimes it's more important than others. Here we have a story that teases us continually. It constantly challenges our sympathies and attention - we never fully know the protagonists' back story till close to the end. We are given clues and hints of course, which get more obvious as we watch. But often, they feel more like red herrings. It's this ambiguity that enriches the tension - who is the villain here? Why is this woman so interested in this ex-con. What was his crime and her involvement. Is he a villain? Is she a victim? It's a very untypical thriller but a thriller it is. The tension is almost unbearable at times. Initially we assume he is the villain and she is maybe his potential victim. And she knows him. What did he do? It must have been something horrible and unspeakable. He looks like a pervert! He is carnal and almost animalistic. But is he? Maybe this is only how she sees him. Was she, in some way, complicit in a crime even? After all, people who should be close to her are not. They are, in fact, estranged from her and seem even hostile to her. The ambiguity is what creates a lot of the tension here. In a straight-forward suspense thriller we are told early on of the unspeakable horrors the villain has committed and the thought of him doing so again is where the tension comes from. Here, we don't have that luxury so the ambiguity of it's protagonists actions constantly challenge our empathy. We are never aware of what is going to happen next because we don't really know what they are thinking. We can only guess. It's a trick that was used in 'Lust, Caution' but here, it's more successful. The ending, also, is certainly not as ambiguous as Ang Lee's pic. The film's centre piece, where the protagonist's 'clash' (?) had me literally holding my breath - it's a bold and exciting sequence that is utterly draining (did Ang Lee see this film before he made Lust, Caution??). It's not until the end of the film that you realise the full mental torture at the heart of the matter. On the surface, Red Road is a story of revenge with large doses of voyeurism - just as our heroine exploits her job's privilege and becomes a voyeur, so do we, the audience (as Hitch was always telling us!) become peepers. As the emotional core of the two main protagonists is gradually and quite brutally laid bare before us, we become more unnerved and uncomfortable and wonder how much we really should be seeing? Such is the vulnerability exposed. Ultimately though, on a deeper level, it's a quite profound story of forgiveness and all-consuming guilt, atonement and redemption. Letting go.

• Arash X

  
  Good acting & directing imo & I liked the pacing & the cinematography but the script is not that good & I had a few problems with it

• Dean M

  
  Kate Dickie does a great performance as an operator of Glasgow's surveillance cameras in this Scottish movie. This is an average sexy and cunningly disorienting thriller that provokes the viewer into a state of anxious participation from the first to last frame.

• Gordon A

  
  Gritty drama which elegantly explores how grief effects people. It also asks you to consider CCTV's role in society.

• Walter M

  
  [font=Century Gothic]In "Red Road", Jackie(Kate Dickie) works as a monitor for the cameras that keep a watchful eye on Glasgow, ensconced in a sterile electronic womb. Outside of work, she lives a solitary existence, her only social interaction being quickies with a… More
  [font=Century Gothic]In "Red Road", Jackie(Kate Dickie) works as a monitor for the cameras that keep a watchful eye on Glasgow, ensconced in a sterile electronic womb. Outside of work, she lives a solitary existence, her only social interaction being quickies with a coworker.(She is also estranged from her in-laws.) One day, she is shocked to observe Clyde Henderson(Tony Curran) walking around free, even though she thought he was still in prison. Of course, that could change if he gets in trouble with the police again...[/font] [font=Century Gothic]"Red Road" is a very compelling and multi-layered mystery that owes more to Egoyan than Hitchcock with clues scattered throughout but I was troubled by the climax.(In a way I think I was supposed to be.) In this day and age of the National Paranoia State, cameras are being proposed for every street corner. And it is very interesting to see how the system might work and how it could possibly break down if the human element falters. Even at its best, one can only know half the story when viewing from a distance. It is up close that the other half becomes clear, completing the full picture. [/font]

• William G

  
  Gripping tale of woman seeking closure; Dickie and Curran are great.

• Daniel P

  
  Winner of the <I>Prix du Jury</i> at Cannes, <i>Red Road</i> is a powerful film where motivations are deliberately kept at a distance until approximately two thirds of the way into the film. <p>Jackie (Kate Dickie), a policewoman whose job it is to watch… More
  Winner of the <I>Prix du Jury</i> at Cannes, <i>Red Road</i> is a powerful film where motivations are deliberately kept at a distance until approximately two thirds of the way into the film. <p>Jackie (Kate Dickie), a policewoman whose job it is to watch a bank of CCTV monitors for any suspicious behaviour, scans the screens daily, 'living' through the bland lives of others; she seems out of touch with her own life and so finds comfort in watching the cleaner in an office block sing to herself or the man walking his overweight, obviously ill dog. One night in front of the screens, she spots a couple having sex behind a wall. She continues watching, on the cusp of sexual arousement when she zooms in further and briefly focuses on the man, who it seems she immediately recognises. From here on in and for a long time it's not clear exactly who the man is or what his actions have done to Jackie, but he has evidently hurt her somehow in the past. She continues watching him obsessively; first going from camera to camera as he walks the streets or drives in has van, and then physically by practically stalking him in the poverty-stricken area of Glasgow where he lives (<I>Red Road</I> refers to a tower block housing estate complex, as well as possibly describing the journey Jackie goes on). <p><I>Red Road</I> is an urban, gritty, somewhat depressing and at times almost unbearably tense film (the scene where Jackie and Clyde, the man she is following, see each other in a pub is especially hard to watch) where things gradually make sense: central to this is an absolutely mesmerising, bravura sex scene where tables are turned in one moment and the true story begins to take shape. The final section of the film has, understandably perhaps, been criticised for lessening the impact of what has gone before by giving closure to the characters and making the film more morally acceptable, but it also makes for a more rewarding viewing experience. <p>The performances from Kate Dickie and Tony Curran are both astonishing; their characters hold many secrets but they manage to make them sympathetic and believable even as they do questionable things. Oscar winner Andera Arnold has written and directed an astonishing, menacing, exhilarating and emotionally exhausting film that deserves to be heralded as a future classic.

• Daisy M

  
  The movie Red Road was beautifully shot but was incredibly slow in the beginning that it might turn some viewers off. However, if you could bear with it, the last forty minutes were brilliant. The portrayal of a broken heart woman and her desperation for vengeance.I found there was… More
  The movie Red Road was beautifully shot but was incredibly slow in the beginning that it might turn some viewers off. However, if you could bear with it, the last forty minutes were brilliant. The portrayal of a broken heart woman and her desperation for vengeance.I found there was not enough clues for what exactly was her motivations, just that she had a reason.The character of Clyde was an interesting one because you never knew what was really going on with him till the final moments of the movie.It was the emotion of the movie that made the audience hold on until the very last moments.And also the characters were the most interesting ones.The movie was dark,real, not so ugly, but interesting.

• Brett W

  
  Deary. Bleak. Scottish. Three things that you wouldn't think could combine to form a good movie...and they don't! Surprising really. I mean, what's not entertaining or thought provoking about watching a suicidal scotch lass stoically pass through her ghost of a life.… More
  Deary. Bleak. Scottish. Three things that you wouldn't think could combine to form a good movie...and they don't! Surprising really. I mean, what's not entertaining or thought provoking about watching a suicidal scotch lass stoically pass through her ghost of a life. Watching others, like ants, go about their pointless lives in the living purgatory that is urban Glasgow. People live this every day and don't need a two hour reminder of this fact unless there's going to be some sort of outlet or catharsis involved. But Red Road does not have that. We never know the real Jackie. Jackie doesn't know the real anybody else, and the plot is arbitrary at best...leading nowhere particularly thrilling, and meant to do nothing but lengthen the film and provide more opportunity to show close-ups of Kate Dickie not acting.

• Chris M

  
  Loses its, more gripping aspect, after just an hour.

• Adam M

  
  Very good Scottish revenge Drama.Great performances and very compelling.

Read all 14 featured audience ratings