“London Road” – To and from and back again [MOVIE REVIEW]
Olivia Colman (center left) as Julia and Anita Dobson (center right) as June in the musical “LONDON ROAD”a BBC Worldwide North America release. Photo courtesy of BBC Worldwide North America.
“London Road,” ostensibly about serial killings that centered on one street, the aforementioned London Road, in the seaside city of Ipswich about 70 miles from London, is deceptively about the much bigger topic of community under siege. Originally work-shopped at the National Theatre, conceived and written by Alecky Blythe in collaboration with composer Adam Cork, it made its way to the main stage under the direction of Rufus Norris, and now to the big screen with all three artists adapting the work for cinematic release.
Briefly, “London Road” tells the story of the citizens living along the almost village-like London Road who are shocked when, over the very short period of several weeks, the bodies of five prostitutes are found scattered throughout the area. Long having complained to the local police of the rampant drug dealing and prostitution centered on and around London Road, the community is devastated by the national media attention focused upon them when the killings are discovered. The capture and trial of the killer does nothing to mitigate the public perception of their town. But the townspeople decide not to let others judge them and they rally to restore what they feel has been taken from them.
This may sound somewhat straightforward, perfunctory and limited in scope but this is where you would be wrong. Much like the public perception of Ipswich, “London Road” is a remarkably complex and incredibly creative look at the impact of how negative publicity affects the self-image of a town and its people and how they bond together to repair themselves and the place they call home.
This, you may think, and certainly I did at first, is not engaging material for a musical, especially one whose music is not memorable in the traditional sense. What Alecky Blythe has done, however, is use the actual transcripts of interviews she conducted with the citizens of London Road, creating a documentary feel to the story. It is a technique she has often used in the past and has come to be called verbatim theater. Composer Adam Cork then composed music to fit the libretto written by Blythe from her interviews, allowing the actors to use the music to imitate the actual cadences of the recorded conversations. In this way, the music is blended naturally in such a way that eventually the viewer notices less and less that the characters of the townspeople are singing.
It is a tribute to Norris’s talent that he was able to take what had surely been a play conceived for a small stage and open it up, successfully blending the intimate theatricality with a visual expansiveness. But what was recognized brilliance on stage sometimes doesn’t work on screen. The flashes of genius occasionally shine through, especially in the seamless coordination of words, music as cadence and subtly choreographed movement, but the larger palette of space sometimes creates the impression of a small round peg sitting in a large square hole.
Tom Hardy as Mark in the musical “LONDON ROAD” a BBC Worldwide North America release. Photo courtesy of BBC Worldwide North America.
The acting is superb, with several familiar faces like Olivia Colman (“Broadchurch,” “Our Kind of Traitor”) and Tom Hardy (“The Revenant,” “Mad Max: Fury Road”); most of the rest of the primary cast were part of the award-winning National Theatre production of 2011. Singers, they’re not; dancers, not exactly, but when Norris puts it all together, the effect is mesmerizing. The choreographer is not just creating dance movements but is floating the actors across the screen like pieces in a well-executed chess match.
Much like “Birdman” of a couple of years ago, you know you are watching a work of genius even if you don’t entirely grasp what is happening or why. “London Road” was, more than likely, better presented in its original intimate setting where the staging promoted a closeness between the characters that isn’t physically possible in an expansive outdoor set. You will often find yourself scratching your head in bewilderment as to what is happening and why. But in the end, you will have been drawn in by the remarkable cadence of the words, the humanness of the townspeople’s dilemma and their resurgence and cohesiveness. This is a film that will give you a satisfying “aha” moment by the end and will surely have been worth the time spent.
Opening Friday September 16 at the Sundance Sunset Cinema and the Pasadena Playhouse 7.