overview
Road
Directed by Alan Clarke
UK, 1987, color, 67 min.
With Neil Dudgeon, Jane Horrocks, David Thewlis
Alan Clarke is credited with launching the careers of British talent such as Gary Oldman and Tim Roth (who would both later imitate his style in their respective directorial debuts) but he went largely unnoticed beyond England, as most of his films were produced for the BBC. Road was adapted from Jim Cartwright's acclaimed stage play for British television, with glorious results. In a Northern industrial town, young people wander the streets in search of entertainment. Clarke uses Steadicam shots to capture the extended conversations between characters who reside in a community who blighted by economic hardship but still find simple joys in living.