Shadow Dancer

After witnessing her little brother fatally wounded in a gun battle between the IRA and British soldiers as a child, Colette McVeigh (Andrea Riseborough) has become a staunch and radical IRA activist over the course of two decades. The single mother tries to lead as inconspicuous a life as possible in Belfast. Nevertheless, she has long since been targeted by the British secret service MI5. She realizes this painfully when she is picked up after a failed attempt to attack the London Underground and suddenly finds herself face to face with MI5 agent Mac (Clive Owen). He makes it clear to her that she has only two options: either she works for him as an informer against her brothers Gerry (Aiden Gillen) and Connor (Domhall Gleeson), as well as Kevin Mulville (David Wilmot), the security officer of her IRA unit. Or else she'll be shipped off to prison right there on the spot, meaning she won't see her son again for many long years. Reluctantly, Colette agrees to cooperate with the enemy. But no sooner is she back in Belfast than she finds that the safety Mac promised her is anything but guaranteed.

Shadow Dancer is heavy fare in more ways than one. Right off the bat, the opening scene is an emotional low blow, making it clear that the dark veil this has placed over the story will not be lifted until the very end. Lightening humor is looked for in vain here. Instead, the depressing atmosphere increases more and more just because of the dreary pictures. But also the production itself proves to be a bit of a challenge for the viewer. Because even though the basic mood already creates a certain tension, the action is dominated by calm moments that are realized in a very slow pace. You have to be prepared for this, but if you succeed, you will quickly realize that this slowness is responsible for the intensity of the film.

In terms of acting, the drama by James Marsh, the director of the great documentary Man on Wire, offers great cinema in the truest sense of the word. Whether it's Andrea Riseborough (Oblivion) as a mother torn between love for her son and familial loyalty, Clive Owen as a dedicated MI5 agent, X-Files star Gillian Anderson as his emotionally hypothermic boss, or David Wilmot as a stone-cold IRA string-puller, they all deliver near-perfect performances for this story. Their acting integrates perfectly with the oppressive imagery, making Shadow Dancer a truly intense film.

Much of that intensity could have been taken away from it with the wrong ending. But Marsh and his screenwriter Tom Bradby thankfully opted for the ending that was right in its consistency, ensuring that the film will linger for a long time to come. Admittedly, the whole thing is a bit unwieldy and doesn't offer the viewer what is commonly referred to as a light evening at the movies. But for those who appreciate sophisticated cinema fare, are interested in the topic and are willing to put up with a somewhat heavy production, this drama can be warmly recommended. Worth seeing

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp