Shadow Dancer
October 2012
Considering it’s been 18 years since the IRA called for a ceasefire and 14 years since the Good Friday Agreement, a contemporary film about the IRA might seem redundant in this day and age.
If you believe writer Tom Bradby (an ITV journalist who wrote the book Shadow Dancer as well as the screenplay), it’s just taken 20 years for his initial idea – while working as a young reporter in Belfast – to germinate into a book and finally a film. Aside from that, looking back means the politics of the time can be removed, so this 1993-set film can focus on the relationships rather than the politics.
This is a high-class thriller in the hands of director James Marsh, best known for his stellar documentaries Man on Wire and Project Nim. Months away from the ceasefire, it stars Andrea Riseborough (Brighton Rock, Never Let Me Go) as Colette, a single mother who is part of a deeply entrenched Republican family. The MI5 busts Colette botching a bombing attempt in London’s Tube. Once caught, MI5 agent Mac (Clive Owen) convinces Colette to spy on her hardline family in order to protect her son. While these themes may seem tired, Marsh’s film isn’t a traditional, predictable thriller. Shadow Dancer is so quiet, eerily so, as the silent tension builds as you watch Colette interact with her family while a Republican interrogator Kevin (David Wilmot) lurks, ready to torture and kill at the order of Colette’s brother Gerry (Aidan Gillen from The Wire and Game of Thrones), a high ranking Republican member, but how high, we don’t know, as exposition is minor, leaving much work for the audience to figure out and imagine.
Riseborough is brilliant as Colette – it is her movie as the soldier, sister, mother and daughter who has to spy on all of her close family members. She barely talks but a glance or a quick ‘aye’ communicates more to the audience than pages of dialogue. The tension is extreme as family and loyalties clash on both sides (the IRA and the MI5). Most of the violence is implied. But that doesn’t make it less terrifying. Seeing a plastic body bag spread on the floor while Kevin interrogates is one of the most chilling scenes of the year.
Shadow Dancer is a unique thriller/drama that deserves to be seen and applauded. It proves Marsh is not only a master documentary maker but a highly skilled feature maker as well. This film will linger in your mind long after the final scene.
Rated M.
Now showing at Palace Cinemas.
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