Tyrannosaur (film)

Tyrannosaur
File:Tyrannosaur poster.jpg Tyrannosaur original poster by Dan McCarthy
Directed by	Paddy Considine
Produced by	Diarmid Scrimshaw Mark Herbert
Written by	Paddy Considine
Starring	Peter Mullan Olivia Colman Eddie Marsan Paul Popplewell Sally Carman
Cinematography	Erik Wilson
Edited by	Pia Di Ciaula
Production company	Warp X Inflammable Films Film4 Productions UK Film Council Screen Yorkshire EM Media Optimum Releasing
Distributed by	StudioCanal UK (UK) Strand Releasing (US)
Release dates	21 January 2011 (2011-01-21) (Sundance) 7 October 2011 (2011-10-07) (United Kingdom)
Running time	92 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Budget	£750,000
Box office	£396,930

Tyrannosaur is a 2011 British drama film written and directed by Paddy Considine in his directorial debut. The film stars Peter Mullan, Olivia Colman, Eddie Marsan, Paul Popplewell and Sally Carman.

Plot

One night, unemployed widower Joseph (Peter Mullan) drunkenly kicks his dog Bluey to death. He buries the dog and goes to the post office, where he mocks some Asian workers then throws a brick through the window when they tell him to leave. At the pub, Joseph attacks two young men playing pool one of whom threatened and mocked him. He then hides in a second-hand shop, where employee Hannah (Olivia Colman) offers to pray for him. That night, Joseph goes to his home and is attacked by the men from the post office. The next morning, Joseph wakes up and goes to the shop, where Hannah looks after him. He begins to berate and insult her, before leaving.

Hannah returns home and falls asleep drunk, where her abusive husband James (Eddie Marsan) urinates on her. The next morning, Joseph apologises and slowly befriends Hannah. One day, she comes to the shop with a black eye and claims to have fallen in the bath. He asks her to pray for his best friend Jack (Robin Butler), who is dying of cancer. A few days later, Jack dies. James goes to the shop and finds them preparing for the funeral, where he silently threatens Hannah and Joseph. Joseph realises that James is beating Hannah and confronts her about the beatings. She constantly denies it.

One night, Hannah gets drunk and James comes to take her home. He hits her and she begins to mock him. She tries to compose herself the bedroom, when James arrives, he beats and rapes her. Hannah tells Joseph that she is leaving James and asks to stay with him. After a few days, Joseph tells her that she is not safe with him and suggests she leave. Joseph decides to confront James and goes to her house, where he finds she had stabbed James to death, presumably after the rape. He confronts Hannah and admits that he knows about the murder. She breaks down and reveals that James mutilated her reproductive system with a glass bottle and that she just wanted to be a mother.

A year later, Joseph prepares to visit Hannah in jail. It is revealed that his best friend, 6-year-old neighbor Samuel (Samuel Bottomley), was mauled by his mother's boyfriend's dog. In retaliation, Joseph beheaded the dog with a machete for which he spent a few months in jail. After leaving jail, he quit drinking. The movie ends with Joseph walking down a path after visiting Hannah who is in prison herself for James's killing.

Cast

• Peter Mullan as Joseph
• Olivia Colman as Hannah
• Eddie Marsan as James
• Paul Popplewell as Bod
• Samuel Bottomley as Samuel
• Sian Breckin as Samuel's Mum
• Ned Dennehy as Tommy
• Sally Carman as Marie
• Julia Mallam as Drunk Girl
• Natalia Carta as Drunk Girl's friend

Production

Tyrannosaur is an expansion of Dog Altogether, a short film for Warp Films that Considine wrote and directed, which won the Best Short Film BAFTA and BIFA awards as well as the Silver Lion award at Venice in 2007. Mullan and Colman also appeared in the short film with Karl Johnson. Popplewell was also in the original short, but in a different role. The film received a grant of £206,540 from the National Lottery fund through the UK Film Council. The remainder of the film's budget came from Warp X, Inflammable Films, Film4, Screen Yorkshire, EM Media and Optimum Releasing (StudioCanal). It depicts an environment similar to what Considine witnessed growing up on a council estate in the Midlands, although the film is in no way autobiographical. The film's title is a metaphor, the meaning of which is revealed in the film.

The film is set in an unspecified town in the North of England. Although much of the film was shot on location in residential areas of Leeds and Wakefield, including Seacroft, Cross Gates, Eccup, Harehills and Alwoodley, in the Spring of 2010 and the accents of many of the main characters are drawn from a wide geographical area. The film makes reference to the fictional Manners Estate as an area in the town where the more wealthy inhabitants reside. Manners Estate is the name of the council estate in the parish of Winshill near Burton-on-Trent where Paddy Considine grew up.

Many of the extras used in the film were local residents, including local busker Chris Wheat who was given a part after singing to the cast and crew on set. He performs his own original song in the film. Workers from the local St Vincent’s Charity Shop used in the film were also given small parts. Several other small roles were given to members of the crew, including the film's producer Diarmid Scrimshaw, the film's make-up designer Nadia Stacey, and the production coordinator Samantha Milnes who was featured in a photo as Joseph's late wife. The film is dedicated to Considine's late mother, Pauline Considine. The end credits gives special thanks to both James Marsh and Gary Oldman.

Soundtrack

1. "Wand'rin' Star" – Nick Hemming (of The Leisure Society), cover of Lee Marvin's 1969 hit song from the western musical film Paint Your Wagon
2. "This Gun Loves you Back" – Chris Baldwin (written By Paddy Considine & Chris Baldwin)
3. "Truth or Glory" – JJ All Stars
4. "Saturday Night" – JJ All Stars
5. "Psycho Mash" – JJ All Stars
6. "Hi Jack" – Chris Wheat
7. "Sing All Our Cares Away" – Damien Dempsey
8. "We Were Wasted" – The Leisure Society

Original music composed by Chris Baldwin & Dan Baker

Reception

Box Office

Tyrannosaur received a limited release in America in 5 theatres and grossed £13,871. The film grossed £383,059 internationally for a total of £396,930, below its £750,000 production budget.

Critical response

Tyrannosaur received positive reviews and currently has a "certified Fresh" score of 83% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 75 reviews, with an average rating of 7.3 out of 10. The critical consensus states: "Tyrannosaur is a brutal, frank, and ultimately rewarding story of violent men seeking far-off redemption." The film also has a score of 65 out of 100 based on 18 critics on Metacritic, indicating "Generally favourable reviews".

Stuart McGurk of GQ magazine called Tyrannosaur "The best British film of the year", whilst Empire said it was "Riveting, uncompromising, brilliant" and gave it 4/5 stars, as did Total Film, The Guardian, Sunday Mirror, and Evening Standard. The Daily Star Sunday and LoveFilm gave the film 5/5 stars and The Sunday Telegraph dubbed it "One of the most powerful films of 2011."

The American film critic and blogger Jeffrey Wells was so taken by Tyrannosaur after seeing it at the Los Angeles Film Festival that he started 'Hollywood Elsewhere's Tyrannosaur fundraising campaign' with the idea of raising $2,000 to cover the rental of a screening room so that the film could be shown in Hollywood with the hope of gaining recognition. Wells claimed this was the first screening financed by a critic.

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3.5 stars out of 4, calling Peter Mullan's performance muscular and unrelenting. He also remarked: "This isn't the kind of movie that even has hope enough to contain a message. There is no message, only the reality of these wounded personalities."

Mark Kermode of BBC Radio 5 Live, hailed the film as one of the 11 Best Films of 2011. Kermode went on to award Olivia Colman Best Actress in his own Annual Kermode Awards. She tied with Tilda Swinton for We Need to Talk About Kevin.

By 18 December 2011, the film had won 21 awards from 28 nominations worldwide.

When the BAFTA Award nominations were announced on January 17, 2012, the omission of Olivia Colman in the Best Actress category led to global trending of both Olivia Colman and Tyrannosaur on Twitter.

Accolades

Year	Group	Award	Result
2011	Sundance International Film Festival Award	The World Cinema Award for Directing: Dramatic	Won
		World Cinema Special Jury Prize for Breakout Performance: Peter Mullan	Won
		World Cinema Special Jury Prize for Breakout Performance: Olivia Colman	Won
		Grand Jury Prize for World Cinema – Dramatic	Nominated
	Nantucket Film Festival Award	Best Writer/Director	Won
	Munich Film Festival, Germany	CineVision Award Outstanding Debut Feature	Won
	Voices Festival of independent European Cinema, Russia	Voices Festival Prize: Best Film	Won
		Best acting prize: Olivia Colman	Won
	Dinard British Film Festival, France	The Golden Hitchcock: Grand Jury Prize/Ciné+ Award	Won
		The Allianz Award: Best Screenplay	Won
	Chicago International Film Festival	Silver Hugo for Best Actress: Olivia Colman	Won
	Zagreb Film Festival, Croatia	T-Com Audience Award: Best Film	Won
	Thessaloniki International Film Festival, Greece	Fischer Audience Award (For a film in the Open Horizons section)	Won
	Mar del Plata Film Festival, Argentina	Jury Special Award	Won
		Silver Astor for Best Screenplay	Won
		Argentine Film Critics Association ACCA Award	Won
		2nd place SIGNIS (World Catholic Association for Communication) Award	Won
	Stockholm Film Festival, Sweden	Best First Feature	Won
	British Independent Film Awards	Best British Independent Film	Won
		Best Director: Paddy Considine	Nominated
		The Douglas Hickox Award [Best Debut Director]: Paddy Considine	Won
		Best Actress: Olivia Colman	Won
		Best Actor: Peter Mullan	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actor: Eddie Marsan	Nominated
		Best Achievement in Production	Nominated
	International Press Academy Satellite Awards	Best Actress in a Motion Picture: Olivia Colman	Nominated
		Best Screenplay: Original	Nominated
		Best First Feature	Won
2012	Independent Spirit Awards	Best International Film	Nominated
	The Guardian First Film Award 2012	Best First Film	Nominated
	London Critics Circle Film Awards	The Virgin Atlantic Award – Breakthrough British Film-Maker: Paddy Considine	Nominated
		The Moët & Chandon Award – British Actress of the Year: Olivia Colman	Won
		British Actor of the Year: Peter Mullan (For Tyrannosaur & War Horse)	Nominated
	British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA)	Outstanding debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer (Considine/Scrimshaw)	Won
	Evening Standard British Film Awards	Best Film	Nominated
		Best Actor: Peter Mullan	Nominated
		Best Actor: Olivia Colman	Won
		Best Screenplay: Paddy Considine	Nominated
	Kermode Award	Best Actress: Olivia Colman (Shared with Tilda Swinton)	Won
	Jameson Empire Awards 2012	Best British Film	Nominated
		Citroën Best Actress Award: Olivia Colman	Won
	Bucharest International Film Festival (Bucuresti IFF) 2012	Best Film	Won
		Critics’ Choice Award	Won
	Transilvania International Film Festival, Romania	FIPRESCI (International Federation of Film Critics) Award	Won

External links

• Tyrannosaur at IMDb
• Tyrannosaur at Rotten Tomatoes
• Tyrannosaur at AllMovie, review by Mark Deming (3.5/5)