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DEAD MAN'S SHOES
year 2004 length 86’ colour 35mm country Great Britain
directed by Shane Meadows
Cast Paddy Considine (Richard), Toby Kebbell (Anthony), Gary Stretch (Betts), Stuart Wolfenden (Herbie), Neil Bell (Soz), Paul Sadot (Tuff), Paul Hurstfield (Mark), Seamus O’Neil (Big Al)
Screenplay Shane Meadows & Paddy Considine
Cinematography Danny Cohen
EditingChris Wyatt
Art Direction Adam Tomlinson
Producer Mark Herbert
Production Warp Films Ltd
World Sales Element X
3 Fitzhardinge St.
W1H 6EF London
United Kingdom
Tel. +4420 7317 1440
Fax +4420 7486 7575
www.elementx.co.uk
Press Office
McDonald & Rutter
Liz Miller
Mobile: +39 335 1388 871
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synopsis
Two brothers return to the home town they left years before. They are close, but very different: Richard (Patty Considine) is strong and purposeful, Anthony (Tony Kebbell) younger, more hesitant. Everything Richard does, Anthony innocently mimics. He is slightly retarded and completely in awe of his brother, who in turn is very protective of him.
They set up camp in the hills overlooking the town, reminiscing over their shared past. But they’re not here to reminisce. Richard is here for revenge.
He knows who he wants and he knows where they live. The town he left eight years ago is still run by the same gang of small-time drug dealers and thugs. The threat of his presence is enough to instil suspicion and paranoia. Why is he back? What does he want?
Shane Meadows is undoubtedly one of the best and brightest of the new generation of British independent film makers, who burst onto the scene when his debut feature, 24/7, was premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 1997. Dead Man’s Shoes is his first feature and arguably the most accomplished of his career. Dead Man’s Shoes could be described as a crime thriller and in some ways it is reminiscent of Mike Hodges’ Get Carter, insofar as it plots the murderous revenge of a man seeking his brother’s killers. Clearly, Meadows revels in using elements of the crime genre and there is a certain playful sense to the representation of violence and action in Dead Man’s Shoes. Yet this isn’t any kind of conventional gangster movie. Instead set in the low rent council estates of Northern England, it depicts with unflinching accuracy the pathetic lives of a group of cheap drug dealers. Using the surrounding rural landscape to great effect and with a terrific score of what can almost be described as alternative Country music songs, Meadows has made a riveting and grittily realistic drama. Blackly comic, particularly when showing the pathetic antics of the inept criminals, this is an edgy, inventive and stylish film, which shows low budget British film making at its very best.
Adrian Wootton
director's statement
“I realised that with the right confidence people could give more than they’d ever show in a drama group or a rehearsal. I’ve gone back to that technique in this film. Not that the actors aren’t talented. But I’ve used that philosophy from 8 or 9 years ago, where putting a group of people together who trusted each other got incredible results, and I hope Dead Man’s Shoes has got the energy of some of that early work.”
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