The Silent Storm – Film Review
Director: Corinna McFarlane
Starring: Damien Lewis, Andrea Riseborough and Ross Anderson
Out: 20th May 2016
The Silent Storm almost seems like the anti-version of Father Ted.
Set on an Island off the coast of Scotland, sometime in the mid 1900’s, a minister deals with the struggle of losing his parish as he moves back to the mainland. This is complemented by complications with his wife, who seems altogether disinterested in her husband, due to his anger issues.
Things take a turn when a young man is sent to live with the minister and his wife. This is part of his rehabilitation after a stint of trouble on the mainland.
Well okay, it doesn’t really sound like an anti-version of Father Ted but it certainly is in terms of entertainment.
Interestingly, this film comes from us via ‘Eon Productions’, in association with Barbara Broccoli, who are best known as the producers of the James Bond films.
Take this with a huge grain of salt, but perhaps this is a suggestion that Damien Lewis might be donning 007’s tuxedo in the future……
……well, either way, it’s good to see they’re helping films with smaller budgets be seen.
Damien Lewis plays Balor; the god-fearing, bible-bashing, alcohol-drinking crazed Minister. And, in doing so, provides us with one of the most over the top fake Scottish accents ever heard on film. Why director Corinna McFarlane opted not to get a Scottish actor for the role is beyond me. It almost seems as though Damien Lewis is trying to channel Peter Capaldi in The Thick of It and doing a bad job of it.
In notable contrast to Balor, Riseborough plays his wife Aislin. The two could not be any more different. She is a lot calmer, at one with nature and certainly a lot more approachable. Only loosely tethered by her husband’s religious views, she seems more like a housekeeper than a wife. One wonders what form of trickery it was that brought them together in marriage.
Balor, essentially, is afraid his Island is going to hell.
All the members of his parish are heading back to the mainland, due to a lack of employment. This leaves him to suffer with his demons, subduing them with religious scrutiny and whiskey. Added to his hardship is Fionn, the young man who is sent to stay with Balor for three months, to repent for his sins.
Fionn opens up a fresh set of eyes for Aislin, giving her the revelation that hopefully we all may have at some point in our lives; that not all men are like Balor. Unlike Balor’s parishioners, Fionn brings a nice sense of relief and levity in an otherwise dark and dull film.
McFarlane, to his credit, makes some inspired directional choices. For the entire duration of time that Balor is on the Island, the colour tones are used in such a way to suggest it is a genuinely depressing place to be.
However, once he leaves to go on a ridiculous quest to win back his parish (in one of the more over-the-top scenes), Aislin and Fionn experience a new kind of freedom on a really colourful Island, filled with luscious flowers and beautiful landscapes. This is complemented nicely with some trippy scenes involving some home-brewed tea. Again, this all changes once Balor gets back from his quest and the striking contrast truly highlights the tension and danger.
This truly is a remarkable representation of the Scottish landscape. Yet, while there is some beautiful cinematography at work here, and appropriately solemn music cues, it is sadly not enough to forgive the film’s flaws. Most notably it’s dull, dull plot.
It may have been saved, had it been well put together. Unfortunately, the editing is sub-par, and complemented with questionable dialogue. This drags the pacing down to a sludgy crawl, so that you’ll feel every one of those bum-numbing 102 minutes.
The Silent Storm has wonderful shots that are hindered by a choppy, dull story and dodgy accents. And while it brightens up in the 2nd act, that can’t save it from its poor script and overwhelming dreariness.
Score: 2/5
Written by Graeme Redmond
