Gifted actor Paddy Considine makes his directorial film debut with ‘Tyrannosaur’ which has been getting universal attention thanks to the quality of his work as well as the standout performances from stars Peter Mullan and Olivia Colman. The film also picked up a World Cinema Prize for directing and two World Cinema Special Jury Prizes for dramatic acting at Sundance Film Festival this year.
Tyrannosaur is an unusually moving and challenging love story about two damaged individuals: Joseph (Mullan), an unemployed widower, crippled by his own volatile temperament; and Hannah (Colman), a respectable Christian charity shop worker. They are, for all intent and purposes, from the opposite ends of society. As their relationship develops a deeply held secret of Hannah’s is revealed which has devastating consequences for both of them.
The film cleverly exposes and challenges preconceptions and predjudices around class and background. Upon reading the script, which was also written by Paddy, Peter Mullan was struck by how beautiful and brave it was. Where scripts of this nature can fall into a deeply cheesy furrow, Tyrannosaur is unflailingly honest and looks at the darkness and the goodness that lies within the heart of people despite differences of class, gender etc.
Despite the films low-budget Paddy Considine did not want this to define the film aesthetically, he wanted it to look like a movie and he achieved this way beyond expectations. The film works on many fronts and promises to be a magical, courageous and moving film. The acting and directing is amongst the best, a cinema classic for the future.
Tyrannosaur is released in cinemas on October 7.