Red Road Gets Cannes Red Carpet Treatment

The Scottish movie that was a surprise late entry to the official selection for Cannes is looking likely to be elevated to the feted by the festival this year. Red Road, the feature film debut of Oscar-winning short film maker Andrea Arnold, had its world premiere at the glamorous resort on Saturday night. Actors Kate Dickie, Tony Curran, Martin Compston and Natalie Press all ascended the red-carpeted steps to the Palais for the packed screening.

Critics have already raved about it, describing the movie as "powerful, moving and strong", and even tipping the film's cast as contenders for the prizes when they are announced next week. One critic described Dickie's performance as "extraordinary" and said she was bound to be in contention for a best actress award when the prizes are announced in Cannes next Sunday.

The film, shot in Glasgow on a modest £1.3m budget, sees Dickie play a CCTV operator called Jackie who one day spots on her monitor a man who was responsible for her father's death. She feels compelled to confront him.

It is Arnold's debut feature film, but the 40-year-old director has been working with the Danish maverick Lars von Trier as part of his experimental Advance Party project, for which three filmmakers make three different films all featuring the same characters. Red Road is the first of the trilogy and all three films are to be shot in Glasgow.

Arnold is a little bemused at all the attention has received since winning an Oscar for her short film Wasp. She said: "It's all a bit bewildering but the Oscar undoubtedly helped me get funding to make this film. As for Cannes, I feel like I am here but not here. I am confused but thrilled as well.

     NO GRAND PLAN

"I did not have a grand plan but was simply attracted to Jackie and wondered what had happened to her in the past.

"I let the character guide me, instinctively and naturally. The milieu of the CCTV cameras is used because that whole scenario fascinates me. Britain has spent more money on surveillance than anywhere else in Europe."

Having made the film, Actress Kate Dickie said that she now finds it very unsettling to walk past a security camera.

"I hadn't seen CCTV cameras before and now I see them everywhere," she said. "I think most of the population doesn't understand how intense the cameras are and how close you can see in detail."

Red Road is not the first Scottish film to win plaudits at Cannes. Ken Loach's Sweet Sixteen screened in 2002 kick-started the career of Red Road actor Martin Compston.

CANNES Q&A HIGHLIGHTS

Andrea Arnold: "The Advance Party project, within the framework of which Red Road was developed, imposes certain rules, including that of a compulsory shoot in the Scotland. For somebody as me, who doesn't come from over there, it is rather an unusual situation. Even if the action of the film takes place in Glasgow, I wished it to evoke some universal place.

I have taken part for the past two and a half years in this creative opportunity which is inspired by the positive aspects of Dogma, as a good collaboration and free exchange between different directors. It also specifies that each filmmaker must use nine identical characters in three different films. My two other feature films, developed within this same structure, will be a romantic comedy and a rather dark film."

Tony Curran: "It's a highly optimistic project. We're going to have a job for a long time to come. I hope that two other films will also be presented at Cannes." (laughter)

Natalie Press: "We were told not to worry about the two other films in which we are going to take part, not to fret about the length of our hair. We were reminded to feel free and not to think about what was going to happen to our characters afterwards."

Andrea Arnold on the work of scriptwriting: "I try to write by instinct, with respect to what I know. The difficulty here was to build characters on whom I would never have ordinarily worked. I had no clear and precise plan of what was going to happen Jackie's character.

I let myself be guided by my own characters and I discovered as I went along with the work of scripting just how things were going to evolve. A writer friend had explained to me a method with which I rather agree: write down three or four ideas on bits of paper, tack them to the wall and throw a dart.

The idea which appears on the paper pierced by the dart must be used as the starting point. From then on, one can always find a way of ending up with a kind of story such as yours."

ON THE VIDEO SURVEILLANCE PHENOMENON

Andrea Arnold: "This system has existed in Great Britain for several years now, and was set up to observe what was taking place in the streets, parks, nursery schools and places where teens kiss and make out. I was fascinated by this and wondered who indeed could those people who monitor us be. The cameras which they have are of such power that they can zoom in the very contents of your handbag."

Tony Curran: "We are being continually watched. At the entrance of some bars, they even go as far as to take your fingerprints."

Kate Dickie: "It's very strange, even frightening. But video surveillance was put into place to help people. These cameras can't prevent attacks, but they have all the same a power of dissuasion."

Andrea Arnold on the after-Oscar (for her short Wasp in 2005): "It was rather confusing. The Oscar helped me a lot for financing this film, even if it wasn't no easy matter coming up with all the funding. And the fact of being here, before you, in Cannes, fills me with joy but also somewhat unbalances me. I've the impression of being here without being here."

Natalie Press emphasizing one of Andrea's qualities as director: "What I like with Andrea is that she isn't driven by the need to recruit stars. It's something rare in the auditions we have to pass. She doesn't make films with the idea that they must function on a commercial level. And that, I truly appreciate. She should be encouraged to follow along this path."