Glassland
Director: Gerard Barrett
Cast: Jack Reynor, Will Poulter, Toni Collette
A chance meeting between Gerard Barrett and Jack Reynor changed everything for this Irish film.
Reynor, off the back of his success with What Richard Did, was just about to embark on his Transformers adventure when he asked the director to hold off for a year in order to make Glassland.
This gave Barrett time to find Will Poulter to work on the film and book the amazing Toni Collette. Glassland is certainly an emotional film but Barrett certainly wasn’t any alien to this with his wonderful Pilgrim Hill already a credit to him. Yes, this was going to be a tough shoot but this film does more than just tell a story - it raises an important question about alcohol consumption in our society.
The film revolves around the central character of John, a young guy, presumably living in Dublin but a setting that could be anywhere in this world. He spends his days working as a taxi driver and generally hanging around with his one close friend, played by the brilliant Will Poulter. However, the tight camera angles give away that something more troubling is beneath the surface and our first introduction to John’s mother confirms that.
Jean is struggling with an alcohol problem, an alcohol problem that is slowly killing, and as her life slowly falls apart John is the one left picking up all the pieces. While he attempts to get help for his mother, he must source money for her treatment with a pretty unsavoury method.
Like his first film Pilgrim Hill, Glassland is hardly a walk in the park. The tough reality of living with a family member certainly hits home, especially the moments where John waits before knocking on his mother’s door, clearly in fear of what he will discover on the other side.
Jack Reynor has pointed out that this film is important enough to create a discussion around the issue of addiction and the film will most certainly do that. John has become the parent in this situation, the one person who is running the show and holding the entire affair together, something that eventually takes its toll on him.
The performances here are just magnificent; Reynor is exceptional as the son while Poulter’s intense performance as someone who is pretending he doesn’t really care about life but is clearly struggling with not being able to see his own infant son is quite touching. You will want to hate Collette but there is a certain understanding for her and in some ways you will appreciate her honesty.
The film just screams of foreboding and grimness, the camera angles are tight, the rooms are dark and most of this just seems depressing. There is one uplifting aspect, some people will do anything for the people they love.
Another great Irish production and proof that Gerard Barrett is one to be watched, Glassland is just a diamond in the rough.
The Salvation
Director: Kristian Levring
Cast: Mads Mikkelson, Eva Green, Jeffrey Dean Morgan
The Western is almost looked down on by modern audiences, who associate the film genre with productions from the 40s and 50s with John Wayne shuffling around in some nice cowboy boots and a Stetson.
However, the genre has changed quite a lot since then and there are few actors who would snub a good Western script, as the true grit of the genre certainly would afford them the opportunity to show off their acting skills; think Guy Pearce in The Proposition...
But the Western can often pass you by and turn up on some random channel at about 2am when you have nothing else going in your life and decide to watch it (this is not a reflection of this reviewer’s current situation). It’s unfair to it and in some ways it would be unfair to The Salvation. Yes, there’s no special effects or fancy superheroes but for those who love a good story, you can’t really go wrong here.
The Salvation focuses on a short, and very unlucky, period in the life of an immigrant called Jon who has moved to the United States in the late 19th century in order to provide a better life for his family. After sending home for his wife and son, the family is attacked while on a stagecoach, his wife raped and his son thrown out of the moving the vehicle.
Jon kills the two men who murdered his family but little does he know they are related to the big crime boss who runs the area, the bitter and twisted Delarue (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). Holding the local town to ransom, Delarue insists if they don’t hand over the man who killed his brother, he will impose a fee higher than normal for protection of the town and threatens the residents. With Jon handed over to his enemy, there is little or no hope for his survival.
The Salvation is not going to change your life but it has something at its heart that’s worth paying attention to, a very good story. Jon has pretty much the worst luck but his need to exact revenge on the man who murdered his family consumes him. It is a wonderful performance from Mads Mikkelsen, who you may remember better as a Bond villain in Casino Royale. Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s character is almost a caricature of “how to play evil” but he does what is required by him. Meanwhile, Eva Green and Eric Cantona barely speak for the course of the film, in fact Eva’s character, Princess, doesn’t speak at all.
The film is full of suspense and tension, something that really works for it, especially in the final shootout. For the most part, this is just a good watch with some beautiful shots of deserted areas in 1870s America.
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