n the opening moments of Henry Blake’s County Lines, a woman out
of shot explains the meaning of an ‘acceptable loss’ to 14-year-old
protagonist Tyler (Conrad Khan). “You. You’re the acceptable loss.” She
insists that he is replaceable to those he works for, and what follows is a
slowburn exploration of the dangers this vulnerable teen faces when he
is groomed to transport drugs across the UK.
The story is told in two parts, and this offers a jarring before and after
structure regarding Tyler’s involvement with the members of a drug ring.
He becomes an entirely different person as he is influenced by the various
brands of masculinity that now surround him; going from doing his little
sister’s hair in the morning to screaming at his mother, “I am the man of
this fucking house, someone has to look after this family.”
Cinematographer Sverre Sørdal often fixes on Tyler’s face, while
other voices stay out of shot and out of reach, resulting in a steady
isolated feeling. Soft colours of the deepest blues and greens enhance
Khan’s powerhouse performance as he becomes further entrapped in
a cycle of violence. His turn is powered by internalised rage and fear.
It bubbles frantically behind his impenetrable gaze, but occasionally
there are explosions.
The first use of soundtrack in County Lines arrives 45 minutes in, when
Tyler seemingly realises the consequences of his actions. The beats of
James Pickering ’s pounding score speed up to synch with his aggression.
However, Blake does well not to leave viewers entrapped in Tyler’s grim
situation, as we also explore the parallel story of his struggling single
mother. With his feature debut, Blake announces himself as an assured
new voice in British film, offering a powerful warning that, if the systems
in place aren’t going to help our kids, then there are terrible people out
there ready to step in. MILLICENT THOMASANTICIPATION. Can a critically-acclaimed short be
hammered out into a feature?ENJOYMENT.
Yes. Yes it can.IN RETROSPECT. A deeply impactful look at the
manifold dangers our young people face today.his punishing but undoubtedly brilliant monochrome epic opens on a
travelling shot of a small boy, running as fast as his legs will carry him
while clutching his fluffy, white pet ferret. He is barged from his flanks by
another kid and the ferret is snatched off of him. While pinned to the floor,
he witnesses his furry friend being covered in some kind of flammable liquid
and then burned alive. It squeals in agony before flopping over to accept
its fate. For the unnamed boy, played with a battle-hardened poker face by
Petr Kotlár, this is only the opening act of a world of intense, diverse and
occasionally surreal suffering. But for him, the release of death is never an
option.
The Painted Bird is a mesmerising, episodic travelogue film by Czech
director Václav Marhoul, based on the 1965 novel by Jerzy Kosiński. It is a
portrait of a broken continent, housing a populous untethered from basic
morality. The notion of extending empathy towards a pure, virtuous child
is lost on these people, who comprise a rogues gallery of depressives and
eccentrics, paedophiles and nymphomaniacs, all of whom choose to direct
the sum total of their worldly torments on this doe-eyed visitor.
Marhoul paints a grotesque fresco which barely hints at a wider context.
He refuses to channel his anger towards systems, governments or the tides
of history and remains fully detached from the boy’s cruel destiny, just
following the trail and watching on with a coldly objective gaze. Here,
evil is always a personal choice – a simple human decision dictated by
circumstance, but also by the double-edged sword of isolation. Many of
these monsters are simply stir crazy, trapped in their tumbledown huts
and waiting for some kind of sweet release. Their seething malevolence is
never driven by some higher edict, but can sometimes be understood as the
result of geopolitical chaos and a world too busy with the matter of tearing
itself apart. DAVID JENKINSANTICIPATION. A three-hour monochrome adaptation
of a famously unfilmable novel? Yep, we’ll bite.ENJOYMENT. You can play atrocity bingo while watching
this colossally depressing, but admirably committed dirge.IN RETROSPECT. Unforgettable – meaning that we’ll
definitely never need to watch this one again.The Painted Bird
Directed by VACLAV MARHOUL
Starring PETR KOTLAR, HARVEY KEITEL,
STELLAN SKARSGÅRD
Released 27 MARCHT
County Lines
Directed by HENRY BLAKE
Starring CONRAD KHAN, ASHLEY MADEKWE,
HARRIS DICKINSON
Released 17 APRILI
REVIEW 081