{ London Film Fest 2011: Wreckers. }

[delga]

Wreckers
Writer: Dictynna Hood
Director: Dictynna Hood
Cast: Claire Foy, Benedict Cumberbatch, Shaun Evans
There is no trailer available for this film

"You can't save him."

Wreckers is the story of a young couple - David and Dawn Johnson - who married without knowing too much about one another's history. Their idyllic country life is interrupted when David's brother, a war veteran named Nick, comes to stay, unveiling family and village secrets along the way.

Village existence can be a miserable thing, and this film banks on that in spades. Filmed in Isleham, a tiny Fen village outside Ely, the film combines tense personal relationships with wide landscape shots, juxtaposing small down dramas with immense isolation. A film about secrets, lies, and betrayal, Wreckers has a fraught but quiet mood.

The Johnson brothers have fierce dependency on one another, one that fascinates Dawn but also alienates her. Dawn was the adopted child of elderly parents, whist David and Nick were the sons of an abusive father and - it is implied - a weak-willed mother. As Nick says, David protected him, but as a result, he also sort of owned him.

It's a taut, nervous film,beautifully shot under austere conditions. Dictynna Hood spoke of the challenges of working on a small budget. and the resultant editorial decisions - changing the sequence of events in the film, and cutting down the script. She spoke of the film having a certain grammar that was adhered to despite the changes, and I don't think she realised how telling her own language was about her process. She spoke frequently of the major "beats" in the film, and how those were maintained. There are some particularly lovely moments in the film - the way the film allocates actions to one brother and then reverses them, building doubt and ambiguity. The wallpaper in Dawn and David's house is littered with birds, a way of bringing the outside world into their house which is in much need of repair. I think the house was appropriate; the couple have clearly taken on the venture with incredible optimism but it needs a lot of work. Their marriage is much the same.

The film is grey in mood, and whilst I don't think it's for everyone - as noted by the complete lack of promotional material, only stills from the film - I certainly enjoyed it. It's as much the story of the secrets in the village as it is the interplay between the three leads. Hopefully the film will get the promotion that it deserves. I can see a few film clubs and university indie nights that would definitely lap it up.