Tyrannosaur

Colour, HD CAM
United Kingdom, 2010, 91 min
Section: Horizons

Synopsis

Reprising their roles from Dog Altogether, the performances by lead actors Peter Mullan and Olivia Colman are the greatest asset of this focused, formally austere, and unostentatious movie. Indeed, at this year’s Sundance festival, they and the director took top awards. Actor Paddy Considine’s feature directorial debut derives from his award-winning short film Dog Altogether, in which he explored the character of the bitter, aggressive widower Joseph and his meeting with a charity store worker named Hannah. As the director said, "I sort of knew Joseph, and that’s not to say he didn’t surprise me, but I felt this need to find out about Hannah.” Considine offers a raw, brooding drama about two lonely individuals, gradually laying their lives bare. It comes out that Hannah, whose faith and goodness at first served Joseph as a soothing refuge, lives in a far worse hell than anyone might have imagined. The relationship that is shyly born between them represents the hope of redemption for both.

About the director

Paddy Considine (b. 1974, Burton-on-Trent, UK) graduated in photography from the University of Brighton. He began his film career working alongside childhood friend Shane Meadows. The director cast Considine in his short films, then offered him his first role in a feature, A Room for Romeo Brass (1999). Later, Considine earned acting and screenwriting credits for Meadows’ Dead Man’s Shoes (2004). His acting career includes both British movies (24 Hour Party People, 2001; In America, 2004) and American (Cinderella Man, 2005; The Bourne Ultimatum, 2007). In 2007 he debuted as a director with Dog Altogether, a short film that won a BAFTA Award and a Silver Lion at the Venice IFF, among other prizes. Considine then transferred its characters to his feature directorial debut Tyrannosaur.