THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ALICE CREED
****
Director: J Blakeson
Screenwriter: J Blakeson
Principal cast:
Gemma Arterton
Martin Compston
Eddie Marsan
Country: UK
Classification: MA15+
Runtime: 100 mins.
Australian release date: 9 September 2010
The Disappearance of Alice Creed really gets under your skin. It is perhaps one of the most taut, disturbing films you are likely to see all year. It would easily work as a three-handed play, but the director, J Blakeson, used HD footage which succeeded in creating a cinematic quality that he claims gave the film, ‘a certain amount of artifice and style’. These qualities are apparent from the moment the film opens.
We follow two men, Vic (Eddie Marsan) and Danny (Martin Compston), on a shopping tour in their plastic-lined van. There is no dialogue, or indeed anyone else around, when they purchase a mattress, a drill and other supplies. They use their purchases to set up a prison cell in an abandoned apartment. It sets the scenario for the horrendous kidnapping of a young girl, Alice Creed (Gemma Arterton) - who is bundled into the van on a suburban street, somewhere on, the Isle of Man.
We learn that the men, who met each other in prison, plan to make a mint on the ransom from Alice’s father, a rich businessman. The first few hours of Alice’s captivity are degrading and quite frankly nauseating to watch, as she is subjected to psychological nightmare. Vic is the older captor with a steely reserve and seems to have a hold over Danny, the nervous, younger kidnapper. Vic is undoubtedly the one who planned everything and is the more volatile of the two. Danny on the other hand, appears to be just a lackey and you get the impression that he was a petty criminal, who ended up in a more hardened prison environment, where he met Vic.
Alice puts up a fight and yet her strength is no match to her situation. You can’t fake fear, and fear is real enough, as the plot starts to take various twists and turns and the relationship between the captors and their victim becomes more convoluted. There are solid performances from the three actors who interact in a power-play of greed and duplicity and, above all, survival.
Blakeson manages to maintain a sense of claustrophobia and tension that does not let up and the final twist gives a whole new meaning to the film’s title. The Disappearance of Alice Creed is Brit cinema at its best. If you want an uneasy and creepy experience at the movies, go with a friend and plan to have a stiff drink afterwards. You may need it!
Screenwriter: J Blakeson
Principal cast:
Gemma Arterton
Martin Compston
Eddie Marsan
Country: UK
Classification: MA15+
Runtime: 100 mins.
Australian release date: 9 September 2010
The Disappearance of Alice Creed really gets under your skin. It is perhaps one of the most taut, disturbing films you are likely to see all year. It would easily work as a three-handed play, but the director, J Blakeson, used HD footage which succeeded in creating a cinematic quality that he claims gave the film, ‘a certain amount of artifice and style’. These qualities are apparent from the moment the film opens.
We follow two men, Vic (Eddie Marsan) and Danny (Martin Compston), on a shopping tour in their plastic-lined van. There is no dialogue, or indeed anyone else around, when they purchase a mattress, a drill and other supplies. They use their purchases to set up a prison cell in an abandoned apartment. It sets the scenario for the horrendous kidnapping of a young girl, Alice Creed (Gemma Arterton) - who is bundled into the van on a suburban street, somewhere on, the Isle of Man.
We learn that the men, who met each other in prison, plan to make a mint on the ransom from Alice’s father, a rich businessman. The first few hours of Alice’s captivity are degrading and quite frankly nauseating to watch, as she is subjected to psychological nightmare. Vic is the older captor with a steely reserve and seems to have a hold over Danny, the nervous, younger kidnapper. Vic is undoubtedly the one who planned everything and is the more volatile of the two. Danny on the other hand, appears to be just a lackey and you get the impression that he was a petty criminal, who ended up in a more hardened prison environment, where he met Vic.
Alice puts up a fight and yet her strength is no match to her situation. You can’t fake fear, and fear is real enough, as the plot starts to take various twists and turns and the relationship between the captors and their victim becomes more convoluted. There are solid performances from the three actors who interact in a power-play of greed and duplicity and, above all, survival.
Blakeson manages to maintain a sense of claustrophobia and tension that does not let up and the final twist gives a whole new meaning to the film’s title. The Disappearance of Alice Creed is Brit cinema at its best. If you want an uneasy and creepy experience at the movies, go with a friend and plan to have a stiff drink afterwards. You may need it!