Tyrannosaur

Tyrannosaur sounds on the face of it like your traditional British kitchen sink drama except a bit more brutal and thus probably depressing than normal. After all, a film that opens with its protagonist Jacob (Peter Mullan) kicking his beloved dog to death in a fit of rage sounds like the sort of film you watch once, perhaps admire but come out of bruised, beaten and feeling slightly worse about the world in general. Yet strangely, this is not the case and is instead so much more.

That said this is not exactly a pleasant picture. Jacob openly admits he ‘is not a nice human being’ and the film’s eighteen certificate is there for good reason as it contains scenes that are genuinely uncomfortable, though only because they need to be, as it examines the particularly brutal dark recesses of its characters and the way they live. The story is at first simplistic as our protagonist tries to turn over a new leaf and put his old violent and destructive lifestyle behind him and become something better. That causes him to form an odd friendship with Hannah (Olivia Colman), a charity shop worker from the posh part of town, who has her own problems in the form of her repulsive husband (Eddie Marsen). So far, so cliché as wayward man redeems himself by helping the damsel in distress, but that is not this film which is far darker and edgier, as with Jacob’s temperament we cannot trust him not to lash out violently. Meaning that the entire film has a real air of tension and we find ourselves fascinated with this critically flawed individual, which unsurprisingly makes for great drama.

Of course none of this would work were it not for the electrifying performances of the whole cast who are fantastic, with Peter Mullan especially giving a truly phenomenal performance. You cannot doubt the underlying ferocity of his character and never forget just what he is capable of lurking behind that ominous stare. So that crucially we find ourselves both entranced and appalled by him, whilst at the same time desperately wanting his redemption yet cannot see how this will end without violence. The result, though awkward and at times hard to watch, is an undoubtedly phenomenal drama that moves at a good pace and strangely never becomes bogged down in misery like so many kitchen sink dramas, thanks to a superb script and remarkable direction from debut filmmaker Paddy Considine. Considine only shows what is necessary in terms of violence and destruction, never showing anything overly explicit on camera and keeping the film moving with a great sense of atmosphere, so that we do not find ourselves bogged down in a tiresome, grim slog as so easily could have happened.

Tyrannosaur is not for everyone, as many understandably will find the darkness and violence off putting. Yet behind that is a rich drama about a fascinating but destructive character, a mass of contradictions and anger trying to be better. This really is a exceptional piece of work, which thanks to its unpleasant subject matter will unfortunately go largely unseen.

See Tyrannosaur at York City Screen. For more information, visit http://www.picturehouses.co.uk/cinema/York_Picturehouse/

Add Comment

You must log in to submit a comment.