It's always something of a cliché when actors decide to direct and certainly a mixed bag . Without doubt one of the outstanding directors in the world today is Clint Eastwood who deservedly won two Oscars and would probably have earned another if MYSTIC RIVER hadn't been released the same year as RETURN OF THE KING . Watching THE WAR ZONE Tim Roth's first - And hopefully last - movie behind the camera it's a safe bet that actor Roth won't be gaining too much acclaim as a director
I have to question Roth's judgement for picking THE WAR ZONE as a directorial debut , couldn't he have done a romantic comedy instead ? I mean people could have flocked to the cinema to see characters on screen laugh , kiss and fall in love with the audience walking home hand in hand in a nice happy mood . Instead of filming a story with commercial potential Roth has made a movie centered around a teenage girl being sexually abused by her father . There's no implication involved , everything is blatant and the audience are shown a quite sickening scene where the father has anal sex with his daughter that will have a TV audience scrambling for the off button of their remote control . This is the most distressing scene in the movie but it's not the only scene that will depress the audience . The whole movie has a bleak , grim atmosphere with close ups of emotionally traumatised characters faces along with scenes of self harm . It should also be pointed out that one of the aspects Roth fails in as a director is the sound mix since I could hardly understand a single line of dialogue
I will give Roth credit for getting the best out of the cast but since the actors are playing characters crushed by revelations of sexual abuse the performances are difficult to watch . Lara Belmont is to put it kindly not the most attractive actress you'll ever see but she gives a truly great performance as incest victim Jessie . Likewise Freddie Cunliffe who plays Tom and who finds out his father is having sex with his sister gives a haunting performance as a devastated teenager . It's not often the words " courage " and " actor " appear in the same sentence but I will praise actor Ray Winstone for having the courage to play the part of the abusive father . It's a sad fact of life that some indivduals can't tell the difference between fictional movies and reality so you can just imagine Winston being in the pub pleading : " look mate I'm an actor , I play different characters and I'm a lovely bloke in real life so can you please put down that machete " . Perhaps it's just as well for Winstone that THE WAR ZONE didn't reach a bigger market since he'd never be able to walk down a dark street again
As I finish off writing this review I feel myself being more and more distressed by the movie the more I think about it . I read the story on the IMDb trivia page of the man who attended the Toronto Film Festival and who became almost hysterical while watching the movie and I can understand how he felt and the more I think about THE WAR ZONE the more I start to wish I had never seen this movie in the first place . You have been warned
I have to question Roth's judgement for picking THE WAR ZONE as a directorial debut , couldn't he have done a romantic comedy instead ? I mean people could have flocked to the cinema to see characters on screen laugh , kiss and fall in love with the audience walking home hand in hand in a nice happy mood . Instead of filming a story with commercial potential Roth has made a movie centered around a teenage girl being sexually abused by her father . There's no implication involved , everything is blatant and the audience are shown a quite sickening scene where the father has anal sex with his daughter that will have a TV audience scrambling for the off button of their remote control . This is the most distressing scene in the movie but it's not the only scene that will depress the audience . The whole movie has a bleak , grim atmosphere with close ups of emotionally traumatised characters faces along with scenes of self harm . It should also be pointed out that one of the aspects Roth fails in as a director is the sound mix since I could hardly understand a single line of dialogue
I will give Roth credit for getting the best out of the cast but since the actors are playing characters crushed by revelations of sexual abuse the performances are difficult to watch . Lara Belmont is to put it kindly not the most attractive actress you'll ever see but she gives a truly great performance as incest victim Jessie . Likewise Freddie Cunliffe who plays Tom and who finds out his father is having sex with his sister gives a haunting performance as a devastated teenager . It's not often the words " courage " and " actor " appear in the same sentence but I will praise actor Ray Winstone for having the courage to play the part of the abusive father . It's a sad fact of life that some indivduals can't tell the difference between fictional movies and reality so you can just imagine Winston being in the pub pleading : " look mate I'm an actor , I play different characters and I'm a lovely bloke in real life so can you please put down that machete " . Perhaps it's just as well for Winstone that THE WAR ZONE didn't reach a bigger market since he'd never be able to walk down a dark street again
As I finish off writing this review I feel myself being more and more distressed by the movie the more I think about it . I read the story on the IMDb trivia page of the man who attended the Toronto Film Festival and who became almost hysterical while watching the movie and I can understand how he felt and the more I think about THE WAR ZONE the more I start to wish I had never seen this movie in the first place . You have been warned