‘The path of the
righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the
tyranny of the evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good
will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his
brothers keeper and the finder of lost children, And I will strike down upon
thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and
destroy my brothers. And you will know I am the lord when I lay my vengeance
upon you”[1]
Rarely have I seen a movie that so clearly shows why
the American pro gun lobby are so wrong!
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| Macon Blair as Dwight. |
Rejected by the selectors at Sundance before its successful
premier at the Cannes film Festival, Blue Ruin (2013) is a refreshing new
slant on the revenge genre. Director and writer Jeremy Saulnier has presented
us with a non dialogue driven movie which he describes as a horror, a character
piece, an adventure and a tragedy, which to a certain extent adds up to a
modern day road movie were a bullet ridden Pontiac Bonneville (the blue ruin of
the title) and its understated homeless owner take centre stage. When we meet
Dwight he is living rough in the car, sleeping on its back seat and scrounging
for food in waste bins. He is a man that bears a canny resemblance to what we
used to call a tramp with his unkempt appearance, his long scraggy beard and
uncut hair. Never speaking, we assume this loner has history and its when a
friendly female police officer asked Dwight to accompany her to the local
Delaware police station that we find out that Dwight’s parents have been
murdered and that the man convicted of killing them is being given an early
release. This news sparks him out of his lethargic life style and puts him on a
course of action that will not only threaten his well being but the life of his
sister and her family.
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| What a difference a day makes? |
The film has a lead actor that is new to me, Jeremy
Saulnier’s childhood friend Macon Blair has been deliberately miscast as Dwight
the unconventional killer who is more likely to hurt him self rather than the
bad guys. Amy Hargreaves, seen mainly on American TV, plays Dwight’s sister Sam
with scene stealing Devin Ratray (Nebraska
2013) as Dwight’s old gun toting buddy Ben Gaffney. It’s a cast that goes a
long way to making us believe what we are witnessing and Saulnier’s up close
and intrusive camera work supports this, giving us a look into the mind of a
man deeply affected by a grave personnel tragedy.
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| Amy Hargreaves as Sam. |
Saulnier’s second feature film as director, writer and
cinematographer following his debut 2007 comedy/horror movie Murder Party, incidentally he was also
the DOP on Putty Hill
(2010), brings to mind the style and feel of Ben Wheatley’s Kill List
(2011) and Sightseers
(2012). A truly brilliant independent movie that admittedly did not attract a
large audience for the two nights it was playing at my local cinema but the
screening I saw certainly made the audience sit up and take notice. The
director proved confidence in his judgement by mortgaging his family home to
raise the finance for the film and with additional help though the crowd
funding platform Kickstarter has made a low budget gem that I am convinced in
years to come will become a cult classic.
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