RED ROAD

Thriller
In heavily accented Glaswegian (a Scottish dialect) with English subtitles (I kid you not)

BACKGROUND
The Closed Circuit Television Cameras (CCTV) initiative was set up under the United Kingdom Home Office Crime Reduction Programme in 1998 with £170 million funding of 684 CCTV projects. CCTV is a situational measure that enables a locale to be kept under surveillance remotely. This makes it possible for the police, and other law and regulatory agencies such as private security, to respond to incidents when alerted, and to have information about what to look for when they arrive.

These cameras have been installed in a wide range of locations, including car parks, town and city centres, and residential areas. The camera images are viewed in control rooms by licensed Public Space Surveillance CCTV Operators who watch over the banks of monitors. Each is connected to a recording device of some sort, where they are available to be watched, reviewed and/or stored.

Recently Britain has become the first country in the world where the movements of all vehicles on the roads are recorded. A new national surveillance system will hold the records for at least two years. Using a network of cameras that can automatically read every passing number plate, the plan is to build a huge database of vehicle movements so that the police and security services can analyse any journey a driver has made over several years.

“The network will incorporate thousands of existing CCTV cameras which are being converted to read number plates automatically night and day to provide 24/7 coverage of all motorways and main roads, as well as towns, cities, ports and petrol-station forecourts.”

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Kate Dickie: Jackie, a Glasgow CCTV Operator with City Eye Control, Division E
Tony Curran: Clyde Henderson, someone Jackie recognizes
Martin Compston: Clyde’s roommate Stevie
Natalie Press: his girlfriend April

REVIEW
Although the slow pace and paucity of dialogue may be of annoyance to some, the use of this technique allows us to figure out for ourselves what is going on without having to be told. Relying more on the visual aspect of story telling (rather than the usual emphasis on the narrative) the blurry, dark, poorly lit images and the frequent use of a hand held camera serve to set the mood as does the crisp editing.

The acting throughout is top notch and the stark realism of this seedy part of a big city is depicted with clarity.

CLASSIFICATION
for nudity, language and some violence but should be X for the graphic, explicit, prolonged sex scene portion.

F.Y.I.
Trifle: Noun. Slang for an alcoholic drink.
A fiver: Noun. A five-pound note.
Wanker: Noun. A contemptible person or an idiot or an incompetent person. Term not used in polite society.
50 p = fifty pence, half a pound.
Bird: Noun. Slang for a female.