The Lawless Heart
Synopsis
How three men, their families, friends and lovers, are changed (or not) by unexpected death. Just in terms of narrative, it would impress for the expert interweaving of different strands; its sense of place, too - farms and villages near the flat saltmarshes of the Essex coast - is strong, assured and spot-on. But what really raises it above most recent British fare is its emotional richness and authenticity; though we're worlds away from Loachian naturalism (Eric Rohmer's work or Michael Winterbottom's Wonderland are more useful reference points), the characters and their lives are beautifully, at times horribly, real. Terrific stuff.
Critics
“The Lawless Heart is a triumph of tone, striking an extremely un-British note of talkative intelligence, the sort of thing we are more used to seeing in French cinema”