TYRANNOSAUR Written and Directed by Paddy Considine (UK, 2011)
As part of my ongoing research into British films and national identity, I have just re-watched Paddy Considine’s Tyrannosaur (2011), one of a small but select sub-genre of films directed by well-known actors exposing the menace of toxic masculinity. Others are Gary Oldman’s Nil By Mouth (1997) and Tim Roth’s The War Zone (1999).
The working title of my book is Mirror Visions and will look at how British cinema has reflected and shaped national identity from the 1960s to the present day. The above three films will be included in a chapter entitled ‘Unbecoming Masculinity’.
Tyrannosaur was developed out of a 15 minute short Dog Altogether (2007) whose stated aim was “to start a film with a man kicking a dog to death, and to try and get an audience to end up caring about him.” This is a tall order and within this short time frame there’s little to indicate why this hate-filled, violent and destructive man should be deserving of our sympathy. One viewer on You Tube was unconvinced and commented “Films like this should be banned, no wonder we’re in a sick world.”
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Ryan Gosling’s full-blooded performance as Daniel Balint made me think of two other on-screen neo-nazi skinheads : Tim Roth in Alan Clarke’s Made In Britain (1982) and Edward Norton in Tony Kaye’s American History X (1998).
