Alistair Galbraith
The possible ramifications of an act of nuclear terrorism are brought to potent and disturbing life in this docudrama. Set in the very near future, Dirty War follows a group of Scotland Yard agents who have learned that a terrorist cell in London has manufactured and intend to detonate a "dirty bomb" -- a small radiological explosive that contaminates with a significant amount of radioactive material so that its deadly effects linger for many months after the explosion. The police are unable to stop the terrorists before the bomb goes off in London's financial district, and it soon becomes obvious that the city was dangerously ill-prepared for such an event; as hospitals and emergency personnel struggle to deal with the aftereffects of the disaster, officials attempt to downplay the severity of the attack, an action that has unseen consequences of its own. Dirty War was produced in a collaboration between the BBC and the American premium cable network HBO, who first aired the film in the United States. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
One man's sexual obsessions and emotional weaknesses are laid bare in this controversial drama. Jay (Mark Rylance) is a cold, emotionally distant man who abandoned his wife and children several years ago andnow works in a nightclub. Jay enters into an affair with a married woman, an amateur actress named Claire (Kerry Fox), in which their emotional needs barely enter the picture; they meet once a week and have sex, talking as little as possible and parting ways once they're done. One week, Jay follows Claire after their weekly encounter and sees her meeting her husband Andy (Timothy Spall), a cheerful and good-natured cab driver. Jay becomes curious about Andy and strikes up an acquaintance with him; as they become friendly, Jay begins sharing with Andy the details of his affair with a married woman, without mentioning his lover's name. Claire has already begun moving away from her affair with Jay, and when she discovers that he's been meeting with her husband and sharing information about their relationship, she becomes understandably furious. Intimacy was the first English-language film for French director Patrice Chereau; the film received its North American premiere at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark Rylance, Kerry Fox, (more)
- 1999
The first feature of Anthony Neilson, The Debt Collector is a dark contemporary thriller set in Edinburgh. The protagonist, Nick Dryden, has just been released from prison after serving 16 years for murder. In his youth, he was Edinburgh's most notorious and violent criminal, but his rehabilitation has worked wonders. Now he is a free man, married to a successful journalist and admired in the art world for his strikingly disturbing sculptures. But for Gary Keltie, the policeman who arrested him, life has been different. Depressed by the futility of his job and alone in the world except for his aging mother, he resents Dryden's new-found success and vows to sabotage it. There is one more person who is also obsessed by Dryden: the seriously disturbed adolescent gangster Flipper, although his reasons are not hatred but hero worship. The three men are on a collision course in this modern Scottish myth which exposes the extremes of human nature. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Billy Connolly, Ken Stott, (more)
