The War Zone

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The War Zone

September 9th 2010 01:53

Tom (Freddie Cunliffe) is a sullen, acne-ravaged 15-year-old with his hormones simmering. His very pretty 18-year-old sister Jessie (Lara Belmont) whom he is close with, plays aloof and secretive. Their mother (Tilda Swinton) is heavily pregnant, and their father (Ray Winstone) is stern and preoccupied, seemingly with work. The family has moved from the bustle of London to the bleak coastline of Devon and into an old farmhouse. Tom feels alienated, having abandoned his friends, and now becoming uncomfortably aware of his sister’s sexuality. Further more he senses something is not quite right in the family dynamic.

Lara Belmont as Jessie

Actor Tim Roth gets behind the camera and directs Alexander Stuart’s adaptation of his own novel, The War Zone (1999), into a searing, emotionally devastating juggernaut that obliterates the concept of the well-adjusted nuclear family. Although there are only three scenes of violence (a car crash, a beating, and a stabbing), none of which are graphic, The War Zone is one of the most gut-wrenching and wounding dramas ever made, as it deals with the most intimate and taboo of relationships, its inevitable exposure, and its immediate and shocking aftermath.

Freddie Cunliffe as Tom

The battle lines are only never drawn in this combat zone, for there will never be victors, only victims, and collateral damage. Incest between father and daughter is one of the most powerful beasts of betrayal, and The War Zone exhibits this demon as a cold stark nightmare of moral confusion. As complicated as the situation is for Jessie and Tom, the reality is simple; their father has descended into hell and is taking the family with him. The old WWII bunker on the seaside cliff top is first a crime scene, throughout a metaphor, and finally a sanctuary.

Tilda Swinton as the mother

Operating almost like a play, Stuart’s screenplay has only a handful of settings; the rural family house, the local pub, the bunker, the desolate beach, the hospital, and a London housing estate flat. Most of the movie takes place in the house, and the only notable characters outside of the family are the small roles of Lucy (Kate Ashfield), a local family friend who recognises Tom’s sexual frustration, Nick (Colin Farrell, in one of his first features), another local who Jessie has a sexual escapade with much to Tom’s chagrin and further confusion, and Carol (Aisling O’Sullivan), Jessie’s older city friend who Jessie talks into seducing Tom for purely selfish reasons.

The War Zone Lara Belmont and Ray Winstone

Jessie is scrutinised by her aggressive father (Ray Winstone)

The movie is beautifully shot by cinematographer Seamus McGarvey, capturing the landscape and natural light with all its darkened hues absorbing the psychological darkness of the terrible secret, the rugged terrain reflecting the inner domestic turmoil, the rain beating down like Nature’s disdain. Simon Boswell’s orchestral score juxtaposes the brooding nightmare with its lilting refrains; The War Zone is a ghastly poetry of sorts, capturing elements of natural beauty and smothering them with a jagged shroud of evil.

Tom discovers Polaroids that confirm his worst fears

Tom seeks isolation

One of the most provocative and disturbingly resonant elements of The War Zone - not to diminish the truly harrowing scenes of Tom spying on his father sodomising Jessie in the bunker, and in the hospital where the mother discovers her baby is bleeding anally and Tom warns her - is Jessie’s moral confusion and the bonding ambiguity that lingers between her and Tom. There is a grey subtext that suggests Tom might be sexually attracted to his sister, and this awkward attraction is something Jessie doesn’t repel. She allows Tom to see her fully nude, they wrestle and cuddle, Jessie slaps Tom in the face by bringing him down to the beach where she intends to have sex with Nick. Later Jessie brings Tom to her experienced friend Carol in order to get him laid, only to interrupt the pair almost out of jealousy. In the final scene, after Tom has escaped to the bunker in a blinding moment of psychological masochism, Jessie arrives to console him. “What do we do now?” Tom asks, but Jessie doesn’t answer, so Tom closes the heavy iron bunker door, shutting the camera and audience out, a helicopter shot slowly rising away from the desolate landscape.

Tom spies on his sister and father ...

The primary evil has been vanquished, but so much damage has already been done, it is apparent the ingrained trauma will probably never heal, and possibly a form of sustained dysfunction is firmly in place. The War Zone is a shattering drama, superbly directed and acted, especially brave young Lara Belmont and Freddie Cunliffe in their screen debuts. Ray Winstone adds another all-too convincing monster to his formidable actor's belt.

... and witnesses the horror

The War Zone won a slew of international awards. No doubt an exhausting experience for director Tim Roth, just as it probably was for Gary Oldman on Nil by Mouth (1997), as neither actor has directed another feature since. Curiously, on the inside cover of the DVD edition I own are a series of behind the scene photos showing Roth, Belmont and Cunliffe smiling and enjoying themselves at work as if to remind the viewer this was only a movie and that they aren’t sick and perverted for being involved. It’s okay guys, I knew that, but I also know this nightmare is all the more haunting because the horror it depicts is a very real and prevalent hell that happens all over the world, all the time.

The War Zone Freddie Cunliffe and Lara Belmont

That which doesn't kill us, may make us stronger, but will leave dreadful scars

This is the third in my three-movie series “An English Hell”.

Here’s the trailer:

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Posted By: Bryn - Category: movie reviews

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Comments

4 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by ShaunK

September 10th 2010 00:12

Screen Adventure

There's something almost vulgar about trying to describe The War Zone with mere words. One of the bravest and most importantly uncompromising, devastating works of art ever. Amazing and one of a kind.

Good stuff Bryn - you've capably captured the essence of three of the best English films ever made

Comment by Bryn

September 10th 2010 02:46

Horrorphile

Thank you Shaun ... Been a long time coming.

Comment by JohnDoe

September 10th 2010 17:26

Film & TV on DVD

Great review Bryn,

I really rank this one high. Unforgettable once viewed with such a strength of purpose that every performance is mesmerizing.

Few actors turned directors have managed this calibre of exploration.