Shadow Dancer (2012)
Certified: 14
Duration: 101 minutes
Directed by: James Marsh
Starring: Clive Owen, Andrea Riseborough, Gillian Anderson, Aidan Gillen, Domhnall Gleeson, Brid Brennan, David Wilmot, Stuart Graham, Martin McCann
KRS release
Director James Marsh, winner of an Oscar for best documentary feature with Man on a Wire (2008), changes tack with this foray into fiction.
Shadow Dancer builds up its momentum steadily and coaxes its audiences to smoothly follow its protagonists on their dangerous paths.
The emphasis here is not on a Hollywood-style thriller but rather on accumulating tension and leaving the audience at the edge of their seats as they are taken back to the time of the Northern Ireland Troubles.
The film is set in 1970s Belfast. This is when young Collette McVeigh (Andrea Riseborough) takes a decision she will live to regret forever: she sends her younger brother on an errand and he ends up dead, caught in a crossfire between the British Government forces and the Irish.
Fast-forward to 1993. Collette, now a radical terrorist, plants a bomb in a subway station but is caught by MI5, the British secret service.
That is when she meets Mac (Clive Owen), who gives her a chance to change sides and become a British spy. As she has a child to take care of, she accepts. The arrangement is to meet with Mac on the Belfast coast and provide information.
Her two brothers, Gerry and Connor (Aidan Gillen and Domhnall Gleeson) are both top IRA officials.
She is soon to be tested when the IRA give her the job of killing a Northern Irish police detective.
The story follows Collette as she lives with her family through tension and warfare. Meanwhile, Mac tries as much as possible to guard his informer, even though his superior, Kate Fletcher (Gillian Anderson), seems to be moving according to her own agenda.
Meticulous to say the least, the film focuses on a woman who is severely unappreciated or underestimated in a male-oriented society.
Shadow Dancer is also a director’s showcase; Marsh’s stamp is all over the film. His direction is tight and gives the film a sense of reality.
The main cast deliver out-standing performances.
While Owen brings his trademark moody look and style, it is Riseborough who owns the screen. Her performance is based on a strong resolve that is simply admirable. Her depiction of a woman who is caught between her past and future is excellent.
The performance of Gillen as Collette’s brother is spot on, imbuing the screen with a very strong presence.
A slow-burning, taut and dignified drama/thriller, Shadow Dancer ends in a clever twist that ties the knot up securely on a film that deserves to be seen.