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Dom Robinson reviews

Distributed by
Film Four

Cert:
Cat.no: VCD 0016
Cert: 18
Running time: 95 minutes
Year: 1999
Pressing: 2000
Region(s): 2, PAL
Chapters: 16 plus extras
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
Languages: English, audio-descriptive in English
Subtitles: English for the hard of hearing
Widescreen: 2.35:1
16:9-enhanced: Yes
Macrovision: Yes
Disc Format: DVD 9
Price: £19.99
Extras : Scene index, Trailer, Dolby Digital Trailer, Behind the Scenes, Cast & Crew Interviews, Shooting the Film, Audio Description for the Visually-Impaired

Director:

Producers:

Sarah Radclyffe and Dixie Linder

Screenplay:

Alexander Stuart

"The War Zone"

Music:

Simon Boswell

Cast:

Dad: Ray Winstone

Face, Ladybird Ladybird, Martha Meet Frank Daniel and Laurence, Nil By Mouth, Quadrophenia, Scum, TV: Births Marriages and Deaths

Mum: Tilda Swinton

Caravaggio, Edward II, Love is the Devil, Orlando, Female Perversions

Jessie: Lara Belmont

Tom: Freddie Cunliffe

Lucy: Kate Ashfield

TV: Soldier Soldier

Carol: Aisling O'Sullivan

The Butcher Boy, Michael Collins

Nurse: Annabelle Apsion

TV: The Lakes, Soldier Soldier

The War Zone is a metaphorical term for fifteen-year-old Tom (Freddie Cunliffe) and how he feels when his life is turned upside down after his family make the move from London to Devon. Cut off from his old friends, he feels there's nothing but a barren landscape there. His Mum (Tilda Swinton, looking no longer like she could pass for a man as she did in Orlando) is about to give birth to her third child Alice, but Tom soon learns that there's more going on between a father (Ray Winstone) and daughter, the eighteen-year-old Jessie (Lara Belmont), than there should be. Also in the mix is Kate Ashfield as Lucy, who casts a keen eye in Tom's direction.

This film marks the acting debut for those playing the two teenagers, as did the excellent Alan Clarke film Made In Britain for one of Britain's finest, Tim Roth. With The War Zone, this marks Roth's debut as director following years of successful film performances in Meantime, The Cook The Thief His Wife and Her Lover, Captives, Rob Roy, Gridlock'd and Tarantino's first two films, Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction.

Of the cast, everyone plays their part well, but only newcomer Lara Belmont, although I'm sure I've seen her before somewhere was picked from obscurity in London's Portobello Road market, really shines through caught in the middle of the situation with her father and the effect this has on her scowling brother as he follows her about, not to mention what happens when the secret is revealed.

The picture quality of the disc is very good but it has a tinge of fuzziness throughout the film. It's nothing to worry about particularly and may be down to the bleak landscapes of the coastal region which appear even less inviting than they already aren't. The film is presented in its original theatrical ratio of 2.35:1 and Roth uses the space provided extremely well, often juxtaposing differing elements at either sides of the screen. The average bitrate is a superb 7.7Mb/s, often peaking over 9Mb/s.

The sound quality is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and is played more for ambience than anything else. There is a soft, lilting score from Simon Boswell, to which you are introduced on some of the menu screens, the style of which reminds me of the score from Contact, but the story is told more in the scenes of silence and there's a notable stark contrast between that and the disturbing sounds that you can hear.

Extras :

Chapters, Trailer and Production Notes :

16 chapters, 15 for the film and one separate for the end credits. The film isn't that long but I never say no to more chapters. The original theatrical trailer is included as is the Dolby Digital "train" trailer.

Languages/Subtitles :

English Dolby Digital 5.1, with subtitles in English for the hard of hearing. Also, for the first time I've ever seen on a DVD, the disc comes complete with a feature-length audio-descriptive track which details the scenes in terms of backdrop and what happens in the foreground as if it's being read out from the book (which it may well be, but I'm too busy spinning 5-inch discs than delving between the pages of a novel :)

The spoken word is delivered courtesy of actor Neil Stuke who is probably best known as Ben Chaplin's replacement for the character Matt Malone after series one in BBC2's excellent sitcom Game On, directed by John Stroud. In that show, Neil's voice is anything but subtle, but here he sounds so posh that I never recognised him until he announced himself over the closing credits.

And there's more... :

Shooting The Film provides an engaging eight-and-a-half minutes in the life of the cast and crew as they made the film, while Behind the Scenes is more of a typical featurette that can be found on a DVD these days and incorporates clips from the interviews I'm about to mention next.

The Interviews section occasionally stop-starts too much as each piece of chat is interrupted by captions stating what they're talking about and the rough footage cuts into that spoken by the unseen interviewer and sometimes the interviewee. It was annoying to hear co-producer Dixie Linder say that they'll "get a lot of stick from the press because..." Erm...because what?

Everyone major gets a chance to say something, but while Tim Roth gets nearly five minutes, the others don't get as much and the attractive Lara Belmont only has 90 seconds to get her points across including the fact that she doesn't particularly want to pursue a career as an actress, but I hope she seriously reconsiders that. You must watch the film first before any of these interviews as they give away plot points.

Menu :

A static shot of the cover but some of the menus are accompanied by selections from the soundtrack. Options are available to to start the film, select a scene, or visit the extras menu.

Tim Roth

Overall, this is a brilliant start to Tim Roth's (right) career as a director - especially down to the way that the film is treated as if being seen through Tom's eyes - and I'll look forward to see what he comes up with next.

Also, VCI prove yet again that not only can they get a day-and-date DVD out on time, but that such a much-awaited disc has been released with some decent extras as well including the audio-descriptive track. The The War Zone tells a disturbing tale and is a film that deserves to be seen by everyone. The actors involved come from many different backgrounds so if you have an interest in any of them, this is worth checking out.

And once you've seen it through, play it again with the audio-descriptive track as it really does bring about many of the scenes in a new light.

FILM CONTENT PICTURE QUALITY SOUND QUALITY EXTRAS
OVERALL

Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 2000

Check out VCI's and Film Four's Web site as well as the Official War Zone Web site.

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