The War Zone (1999)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Tim Roth

Writers:

Alexander Stuart (novel)
Alexander Stuart (screenplay)

Release Date:

11 June 1999 (Italy)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

An alienated teenager, saddened that he has moved away from London, must find a way to deal with a dark family secret.

Plot Keywords:

Rural | Family Secret | Car Accident | Murder | Undressing

Awards:

9 wins & 10 nominations

Cast

Ray Winstone	...	Dad
Lara Belmont	...	Jessie
Freddie Cunliffe	...	Tom
Tilda Swinton	...	Mum
Colin Farrell	...	Nick (as Colin J. Farrell)
Aisling O'Sullivan	...	Carol
Kate Ashfield	...	Lucy
Megan Thorp	...	Baby Alice
Kim Wall	...	Barman
Annabelle Apsion	...	Nurse

Also Known As:

Tim Roth's The War Zone (USA) (poster title)
Zona di guerra (Italy)

MPAA:

Rated R for sexual content, some involving molestation, and for nudity, language and a scene of violence.

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

Italy | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Argentina:18 | Australia:R | Finland:K-16 | France:-16 | Hong Kong:III | New Zealand:R18 | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:R(A) | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Hartland, Devon, England, UK

Company:

Channel Four Films

Trivia:

According to director 'Tim Roth' the bunker scene was so difficult to film that the sound man almost ruined a take by crying into his microphone. Ray Winstone also found acting the scene upsetting and nearly left the production because of it.

If Bergman did an abuse movie, it might look like this.

I went to see Tim Roth's directorial debut "War Zone" to get insight into a deeply talented actor, much as that's a reason to see Sean Penn-directed movies.

"War Zone" is a cross between "Once Were Warriors," the visceral NZ movie on domestic violence, and "Wuthering Heights."

It's visually stunning, painterly, as the dysfunctional family is set in almost Edward Hopper-still life isolation on the moors, surrounded only by the elements--lots of rain, sea and relentless wind--with the characters mostly silent you sure hear that howling wind instead of conversation-- with an occasional human being staring them down.

While the family's close-knit physical intimacy was realized in an almost 17th century way of togetherness, I'm not sure the abuse was, as I thought most incest more pedophiliac than this. So the universality of any message is lost, other than the lesson that family members are love-tropic and take it any way they can get it with some fine lines dividing functional from dysfunctional.

If Bergman did an abuse movie, it might look like this. Excellent acting all around, though as usual some working-class Brit accents can be hard to decipher by an American. (originally written 12/31/1999)