Red Road (Director: Andrea Arnold, UK/Denmark, 2006): I saw Red Road back in September as part of TIFF, and it was definitely one of my favourites. The director was on hand to explain the concept behind “The Advance Party“, a project/concept for a trilogy of three films of which Red Road is the first.
I didn’t know anything about The Advance Party before seeing the film, nor did I realize that Lars von Trier was involved at all, so that was a pleasant surprise. It is an intense, riveting piece and I really enjoyed how the themes and plot slowly rolled out. It was especially interesting afterwards, too, to read the character descriptions/restrictions that Arnold and the next two films’ directors were given to work with.
As the film is concluding its festival tour, Indiewire has a short article which details Red Road’s success and also sheds some light on The Advance Party, including some challenges that Arnold faced working within its structure.
UPDATE: The film will open in Toronto at the Royal Cinema on June 29th.