Directed by:
Shane Meadows
Starring:
Paddy Considine …. Richard
Gary Stretch …. Sonny
Toby Kebbell …. Anthony
Jo Hartley …. Jo
Seamus O’Neill …. Big Al
Stuart Wolfenden …. Herbie
Paul Sadot …. Tuff
Paul Hurstfield …. Mark
Emily Aston …. Patti
George Newton …. Gypsy John
Neil Bell …. Soz
Magnolia Pictures presents Dead Man’s Shoes. Written by Paddy Considine, Shane Meadows and Paul Fraser. Running time: 90 minutes. Not Rated (contains nudity, sexual content, drug use, and language.). Released on DVD: September 5, 2006.
“God will forgive them. He’ll forgive them and allow them into Heaven. I can’t live with that.”
Revenge flicks seem to be in full force this year, being the one genre that has kept a relatively clean record so far in 2006. With V for Vendetta, The Proposition, Hard Candy, Lucky Number Slevin, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada and now Dead Man’s Shoes we’re given films that have something of purpose, something we’ve been wanting to see a return of to theaters for a long time. Other genre’s haven’t had such luck, in fact, there really haven’t been many films outside of revenge movies worth talking about.
Paddy Constantine plays Richard, returning home from active duty in the military only to discover that Anthony, his mentally disabled younger brother, was abused by a group of low life drug pushers. And now he’s on a one man mission to inflict his own brand of justice on the men responsible for what happened, by any means necessary.
The film roots itself heavily in reality, and because of that it tends to lose a cinematic feel. Richard isn’t attacking the top guy of the underground that everyone cowers in fear of, or one of the biggest and baddest gangsters in the area, he’s simply taking vengeance on whoever is responsible for what happened to his brother. Not having a clear-cut plan of taking out the enemy from the bottom of the chain and working his way up, he attacks every time there’s an opportunity, no matter who it is.
To talk any further about the film would ruin a very well crafted piece of cinema that is best watched with the bare minimum of mentioned plot developments. So if you’ve yet to see it, then you should probably stop reading here; go see it and then come back. There won’t be much that can be construed as “spoilers” below this paragraph, but Dead Man’s Shoes is a film that is better without preconceived notions of what to expect. That way, what transpires may in fact cause you to walk away with some powerful emotions.
Dead Man’s Shoes could have been the next Boondock Saints considering its tone and high likelihood of cult status, but there is that one missing ingredient that keeps it from that. The major reason films like Boondock and Donnie Darko have achieved a following is, aside from being great stories, a keen eye behind the lens. They’re able to make a relatively boring scene seem intriguing, or somber moments are given more impact. We don’t seem to see that in this film.
Is it acceptable to look past a film’s shortcomings and award it more for its ideal, message and overall enjoyable quality? That was the major question running through my head as I sat in front on my monitor starting out this review. Because the story and its message is one of the best I’ve seen all year, but on a pure cinematic level, the film loses a lot of its luster. But perhaps that’s the point director Shane Meadows was attempting to make. That he wasn’t looking for a polished Hollywood vehicle and just wanted to make something raw and visceral, depicting violence, recklessness, and above all else, revenge.
Perhaps that’s what he wanted, for the camera to have no actual impact on the viewers feelings, to not overreact or undercut important scenes, and to let the audience experience them however they may. But, sometimes going against the grain just for the sake of it is not the best move to make.
One will look at Dead Man’s Shoes as a revenge film, and it is, the cover art practically spells that out for you. The cover art also ruins a very impactful scene in the film, but I digress. The film is much deeper then that. While we also get a sense of drug abuse, its more about accepting responsibility for your wrong doings, or the acceptance of your apathy and what should be done because of it.
Video:
(Presented in 1.78:1 Anamorphic Widescreen)
According to IMDB, Dead Man’s Shoes was shot in 1.85:1. So seeing it here in 1.78 will probably disappoint those who prefer to see a film in its intended aspect ratio. The video appears a bit soft, but the fact that it was shot on 16mm and softness is the only real issue, it shows that a lot of attention was paid to the DVD presentation. The flashback footage in the film is purposely aged and poorly presented in order to add to the films tone, so those can’t be used against it. There is however a heavy bit of noise plainly visible in the sky during outdoor scenes.
Audio:
(English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround)
You’ll rarely hear anything coming out or the speakers behind you on this track, the film tends to stay in the front channels. The audio track comes out clear with the 5.1, but perhaps the hardest thing with the audio lies in the actors themselves. The dialects in the film tend to come off very deep, which make following the film a tad bit difficult in some scenes where you just have no idea what the actors are saying. The subtitle option helps in these situations.
Extras:
Feature Length Commentary – Director Shane Meadows, star/co-writer Paddy Considine, and producer Mark Herbert are on the commentary, and it’s one of the most inviting and informative tracks I’ve listened to in quite some time. The guys have a very friendly conversation about the film, and its production throughout the films runtime with hardly any dull moments or dead spots. Discussed here include: How the film was shot with very little money and was wrapped after just three weeks of shooting; certain directiorial decisions that were difficult to make in post production; and how the film was basically a day-to-day situation where the films script was constantly evolving and changing on the spot.
In Shane’s Shoes Featurette (25:00) – Shane Meadows discusses events in his childhood that were big influences to Dead Man’s Shoes. Meadows shares his views on the true underlying meaning of the film and how he enjoyed making it. We also get to see some behind-the-scenes footage from the set. It ends when we see the film make its world premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. The piece is split up with small snippets from the movie, which is something that tends to always be irritating after having just watched the movie. And this time is no different. Also included here is the theatrical trailer.
Also on the DVD are a Deleted Scene (3:12) and an Alternate Ending (8:26), both of which were taken out or changed for obvious reasons, and the film is better off without them in the final cut.
