David O'ConnellTyrannosaur
February 23rd 2012 01:41
Tyrannosaur marks the uncompromising, gut-wrenching directorial debut of Paddy Considine. Watching this emotionally-charged film of damaged people flailing against tides of self-hatred is like encountering a car crash that you are compelled to investigate further. This is a stark reminder, too, of other fine British debuts, most recently Samantha Morton’s brave The Unloved (2010), with its stark similarity in tone.
The fearsome Peter Mullan plays Joseph, a psychologically wounded individual with a profound resentment festering inside him. He’s like a weeping sore, projecting his rage upon the nearest available target. After an alcohol-fuelled rant with a local at the pub he kicks his beloved dog to death. Later, after copping a hiding from some kids he'd previously struck out at, he stumbles into the thrift shop of Hannah (Olivia Colman).
A devout Christian, she offers him consolation in prayer; he’s momentarily touched but then vents his rage at her hypocrisy. Remorseful, he returns the next day, on a subliminal level seeking a simple human connection to placate his rage. We’re shown horrifying glimpses of Hannah’s own story through her poisoned marriage to the monstrous James (Eddie Marsan); glimpses as frightening as they are repellent. Joseph and Hannah find another through the pain inflicted upon them by the world; a tentative friendship forms, one that scares both for differing reasons.
The two leads are nothing short of remarkable, carrying this punishing film along on a tide of bleakness that’s rarely released. The always intense Mullan is a formidable force, able to project seething rage with the blink of an eye. But the work of Colman as a woman attempting to rationalise the infected remnants of her marriage, whilst retaining her sanity under this black cloud of evil, is just as remarkable.
Considine takes no prisoners with his remarkable screenplay for Tyrannosaur (2011). And yet, a flicker of humanity – the last opportunity for soldering these two broken lives together – flickers at the edges, offering hope from a tainted, unlikely source.
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