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Let’s face it, there is always the release of at least one British film that is simply adored by critics but at the same time, is extremely underrated by the majority of the public. These films are mostly ones that are directorial debuts and perhaps aren’t entirely appreciated to start off with despite the critical acclaim. Anyway, in the case of Tyrannosaur, it is unfortunately another one of those but provides different aspects that consist of the struggles of marriage, loneliness and friendship, horrific violence and surprisingly beautiful art in a huge way! It’s really not for the faint-hearted but despite that, it’s an absolutely brilliant film that makes it the best British film of 2011.
Considering that it’s a British drama, the title Tyrannosaur for short is the Tyrannosaurus Rex, and due to the appearance of the poster and the buried large skeleton, the film as a whole can quite easily be misunderstood that it’s a story about dinosaurs and humans together. Just like most British films involving crime and violence expresses the ugliness and brutality between individuals, but is also expresses the close bonds that bind people together. Plus, Tyrannosaur is amongst those other British films that is a very strong competition against traditional Hollywood cinema, and perhaps makes film more eccentric and rather unorthodox with darker tones of filming with realistic stories about different ways of life.
Honestly, how many times recently have we seen these aging, grumpy old men who almost have no care in the world about how to spend the rest of their lives? It has occurred several times with leading actors yet they each have different backgrounds as to why they behave the way they do. Plus, there are different bonds between characters that touch their audiences in altered ways. Peter Mullan is an actor who has only really been involved in brief supporting roles but Tyrannosaur is now his time to shine as he portrays disgruntled and bad-tempered Joseph. He previously collaborated with director Paddy Considine in his 2007 short film All Together. His performance is absolutely fantastic as he similarly resembles the performances from Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino and Michael Caine in Harry Brown. He perhaps isn’t a strong contender for the Academy Award for Best Leading Actor at the upcoming 84th Academy Awards, but it could gain a Best Actor nomination at the BAFTA Awards as he would rightfully deserve.
Olivia Colman who has previously worked with Paddy Considine on more than one occasion: when they starred together in Edgar Wright’s Hot Fuzz together and, like Mullan, in a leading role in Considine’s short film All Together. Her performance as Hannah is acting at its finest and is perhaps her breakthrough performance! The chemistry between her and Joseph is like a mixture of both a father-daughter relationship and a forbidden bond as lovers. Colman expresses the innocence and sensitivity of a young woman who feels alone and is going through a very difficult time at the hands of her abusive husband. She will no doubt be a contender for Best Actress. Eddie Marsan’s role as James, Hannah’s abusive husband, is another spectacular performance considering his mild appearance. James is a typical arrogant wife-beater who is a bully and very dominant, and when Hannah meets Joseph, Joseph’s violence somehow slows down and begins changing his character.
After brilliant performances in many films throughout his acting career and having already directed and written his own short film, Paddy Considine makes his feature film debut. He brings forth a style that is familiar to not only films from his friend Shane Meadows who he has collaborated with and given great performances in, but a style that is familiar to Martin Scorsese’s works. Tyrannosaur shows a lot of raw violence from almost no motive whatsoever which we previously saw in Taxi Driver. So from a personal perspective, Paddy Considine’s Tyrannosaur is Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver. His script was just fantastic! The amazing concept about this script is that how we have seen Considine previously perform the use of vulgar language and bitterness between characters is exactly how he would and has behaved on-screen. Due to the language, it’ll either add more humour for its viewers or it’ll deeply offend others. Paddy’s directorial feature debut is an almost complete lock to win Best Directorial Debut at the BAFTA’s upcoming, which is perhaps the film’s strongest change of winning a top award this year although it deserves more.
Overall, Tyrannosaur is a film that you need to really focus on and will require a strong stomach but it is a beautifully-crafted motion picture that is rather disturbing, incredibly emotional and is filled with a few astonishing twists and turns. Hopefully Olivia Collman performs even better in the future in even greater films and the day that the latest Paddy Considine film is announced, the counting of the days will commence.
9/10
