Shadow Dancer (movie review)

Shadow Dancer (15) (1 hr 42 mins)

It’s not often you see a film that is completely captivating from the opening shot to the closing credits but Shadow Dancer is one such film. This gripping thriller relies on a well-crafted plot and believable characters to hold your attention throughout.

The opening scenes are set in Belfast in 1973. Young girl Colette is asked by her father to go out to buy him cigarettes. She persuades her younger brother to go in her place and he is killed in the street (as we later find out) by an IRA bullet.

We then jump to London in the early 1990s. Now a young mother, Colette (played by Andrea Riseborough) is also an IRA operative. She is on a mission to plant a bomb on the London Underground but when the mission goes wrong, she’s arrested. MI5 officer Mac (Clive Owen) offers her a deal: escape from a long prison sentence and separation from her son in return for informing on her own family.

She accepts the offer but is soon involved in an IRA attack on a police detective. When the attack is thwarted it becomes clear to IRA leader Kevin that either Colette or her brother Connor must have tipped off the police. With Mac demanding tip-offs and Kevin watching her every move, she knows that one slip-up will wreck her life.

Meanwhile Mac has problems of his own. He begins to realise that his boss (Gillian Anderson) has her own agenda and that he cannot guarantee Colette’s safety.

Directed by James Marsh (Man on Wire, Project Nim), the film is atmospheric, raw and well-paced. It benefits from an intelligent script by Tom Bradby (on whose 2001 novel it is based) and an outstanding performance from Riseborough as a woman with secrets but no-one to confide in. At the core of the film lies Colette’s inner conflict between loyalty to her son and loyalty to her brothers. How great a sacrifice is she willing to make?

It is refreshing to watch a thriller that is not crammed full of dialogue, car chases and gun fights. In this film what is left unsaid is as important as the words that are spoken, and excitement is built up with clever plot twists and skilful editing. Marsh’s direction is impressive, his varied use of tracking shots, hand-held camera and close-ups racking up the tension.

Marsh won an Oscar for his brilliant documentary Man on Wire (2008), which told the story of Phlippe Petit’s high-wire walk between the Twin Towers in New York. Shadow Dancer proves he can make outstanding films in different genres and marks him out as a film-maker to watch.

I saw this film at the newly-refurbished Ritzy in Brixton and was impressed with the venue. The seats are comfortable, it has a bar and restaurant and also hosts live music. It’s one of the Picture House cinemas, which combine mainstream films with independent and foreign films. Check out their film programme at www.picturehouses.co.uk/cinema/Ritzy-Picturehouse/Whats_On.

Rating: 9/10