British actor Paddy Considine’s assured directorial debut “Tyrannosaur” (2011) isn’t about a carnivorous dinosaur, stomping people and swallowing them in one gulp. It is about humans possessed by uncontrolled rage, stomping the love within themselves and others in closer vicinity. The movie opens with its middle-aged, beaten-down, working-class British protagonist Joseph (Peter Mullan), coming out of the bookie’s office with a visible rage. His wife is dead, friends are dying and except for the dog Bluey, there’s no one left for him. And, so Joseph incurs his burning wrath on the faithful companion. He kicks it hardly and with a whimper, Bluey goes down. It is a brutal start, where the director signals us about the ‘Tryannosaur’ within the protagonist and that he is not an easy man to like.
On a side note, I’d like to say that the brutal killing of dogs,
in movies enrages more people than the murder of a man in the opening shot. In
the later circumstance, we would patiently wait for the film-maker to realize
the circumstances behind it, whereas in the former one, we would immediately
pass a judgment on the on-screen personality. So, it’s a brave attempt for a
first time film-maker to visualize a dog-killing scene. Of course, the
matter-of-fact staging seems a tad sensational, but the director doesn’t use
violence as an attractive side-show. Considine, in fact, moves quickly to
organically invest considerable humanity to the protagonist. “Tyrannosaur” is not
only a character study about a damaged individual, but also an exploration of
dilapidated existence, where violence cuts across class boundaries. An environment
of punishment and humiliation steering the people to explode with misdirected
rage. Joseph’s friendly kid neighbor Samuel is a victim of domestic abuse on
the hands of his mum’s boyfriend. The despicable boyfriend has a pit-bull,
mostly chained to his wrist. Samuel and the pit-bull are innocent beings,
waiting to face the brunt of a ‘tyrannosaur’s’ rage.
A chance encounter makes Joseph to meet a local charity shop
worker Hannah (Olivia Colman). For Joseph, the middle-aged housewife with her
‘do-good’ sermons represents financially stable suburban dwellers, diffusing
spiritual assurances like handouts. As expected, Hannah’s mention of God and
charity kicks off the anger. To Hannah’s “You’re a child of God”; Joseph
replies “God ain’t my fucking daddy. My daddy was a cunt, but he knew he was a
cunt. God still thinks he’s God. Nobody’s told him otherwise”. The lines tell
us about the domestic abuses Joseph might have faced and the rage passed on by
his daddy.Nevertheless, our protagonist is also plagued by regret (for not
showing enough love to his dead wife), which may be important feeling to his
path for redemption. Joseph is also very wrong in his judgment about Hannah.
She, the embodiment of love, has a ‘tyrannosaur’ at home, in the form of
abusive husband (Eddie Marsan). He does unspeakable acts in the night, while
inebriated and later, kneels like a lap dog, alleging “I’m sorry. It’s not the
real me”. The apologetic Joseph does return to Hannah’s shop and despite their
ostensible differences, a friendly connection is bridged, although the
omnipresent menace shapes their fate.
Paddy Considine, the actor best known for his lead roles in
Shane Meadows' “Dead Man’s Shoes” and Jim Sheridan’s “In America”, has developed
the story line of his 2007 short film “Dog Altogether”. As a director/writer,
Considine takes a fine position in not showing too much of the violence
on-screen. The implication of violence, in fact, distresses us more than the
full frontal visual assault (however, the clear-cut showcase of horror at the
end was little unbearable for me). Considine also remains sharp in setting the
film’s mood right from the opening. Blunt force trauma faced by the characters
is impeccably conveyed to us without ever resorting to cheap melodrama. The
film-maker infuses enough empathy to understand Joseph and Hannah, but at the
same he isn’t providing excuses for their behavior. When Joseph reveals the
film’s strange title, relating the story of his wife, he’s honest about
himself: “I thought it was funny. I was being a cunt”. And, although the source
for Joseph’s rage is never clearly defined, that particular scene hints at the
guilt over his treatment of wife, which may have subsequently kindled the
self-hate (or else, it just could have come from abusive upbringing as Joseph
kind of sees himself in kid neighbor Samuel). Special mention must go to the
dialogues, especially the conversation between two central characters, devised
with emotional closeness.
“Tyrannosaur” isn’t without its flaws. One thing I felt the
movie could have done better is in achieving the emotional complexity. The
tentative friendship between Hannah and Joseph is handled with great restraint.
Their amicability is characterized empathy and understanding rather than hints
of romance. To achieve this amicability, Considine particularly uses the
sequence, where the central characters go to a funeral. Later in the pub, music
flows and in an intoxicated mode, Joseph and Hannah witness some joy or a
feeling of togetherness. But, then that mutual feeling couldn’t be tangibly
felt as much as the initial trauma and rage. The use of montage to exhibit the
happiness doesn’t work in realizing the elation or the change. In few other
moments, like in the ending sequences, to strive for emotional complexity, the
director rushes through the narrative. The theme of redemption comes clearly
through the ending, but what misses is the organic flow, prevalent in the earlier
ones. Nevertheless, those flaws are overcome to an extent by the first-rate
performances of Peter Mullan and Olivia Colman. Mullan powerfully conveys the
ominous mood that always threatens to overturn his emotional balance. Colman,
whose works often restricted to comedy, shines as fragile woman pushed to the
brink. Her collapses and retreats are heart-wrenching to watch.
Trailer
“Tyrannosaur” (92 minutes) is a harrowing as well as a
humanistic study about unrestrained anger and its damaging consequences. Its
portrayal of violence may be difficult to stomach for few viewers, but it is
worth watching for robust performances and searing honesty.
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