Black Dog
Two outstanding performances distinguish George Jaques’s debut feature, a revelatory road trip from London to Scotland.
Image courtesy of Vertigo Releasing.
Here we have a film which is notable for being a showcase for young talent. This Black Dog (the title has been used before and also happens to be shared by a new Chinese film about to open in the UK) is the work of George Jaques who comes from South London. He is 23 years old and this is the first feature that he has directed. He is also an actor and in this instance the co-author of the screenplay which he wrote in collaboration with one of his leading actors, Jamie Flatters who is a year older. The other key role in what at times comes close to being a two-hander goes to Keenan Munn-Francis. The latter is 27 but neither star player has any difficulty in convincingly filling the roles of former school acquaintances who meet again by chance when in their late teens.
The part taken by Flatters is that of Nathan who has been living in London with his foster mother (Hattie Morahan). He also has a girlfriend (Ruby Stokes) but has decided that the time has come to seek out his sister from whom he had been separated when each was put in a different foster home. Nathan has her address in Scotland and plans to go there, perhaps permanently. It is just at this time that he comes across Sam (the role taken by Munn-Francis). Nathan intervenes on seeing Sam being mugged and only afterwards recognises the victim as being a boy he had once known. Although Nathan having just left work has money to travel north by train, he discovers that Sam is also travelling in that direction by car and Sam offers him a lift.
Black Dog could certainly count as a road movie in that the greater part of it portrays the journey undertaken by Nathan and Sam together. There are passing incidents en route but to spend so much time with just two characters in a car might have seemed a limitation. However, as a filmmaker Jaques has a flair for good images and camera movement while often favouring quick editing especially in the early expository scenes (his editor is Caitlin Spiller). In addition, the screenplay is astute in the way that it characterises both Nathan and Sam. The former is often seen as patronising (more experienced in life than Sam, he is not only the more outgoing but is keen to impose his views). Furthermore, we have seen his opportunist streak when, having recovered Sam's wallet at the scene of the mugging, he helps himself to cash inside it. Nevertheless, his former employer (Paul Kaye) has always believed that for all his flaws Nathan is good at heart. There is enough complexity here to give Flatters a good role to play and he meets the challenge admirably. The less worldly-wise Sam is quieter but more readily empathetic and the fact that he has health issues (early on we see him taking pills) arouses our concern. Perhaps most importantly of all the contrasted nature and outlook of these two central figures lead to convincing interplay between them and the performance by Munn-Francis is so well judged that he matches the skill shown by Flatters.
With a running length of 96 minutes, Black Dog is not a long film but its middle stretch does sometimes feel that it needs rather more incidents to keep it going to full effect. It's also the case that a few brief flashbacks work well enough at first but later are not always as adroit as they might be. However, as the film reaches its final third, we discover more about both Nathan and Sam and the way in which their past history has marked them. The extra drama that emerges is admirably persuasive even as it takes one by surprise. It may still be the case that one thinks of Black Dog as a small film, but it is a pleasing one that allows us to admire and appreciate the work of all three of the talents that are central to it.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Cast: Jamie Flatters, Keenan Munn-Francis, Nicholas Pinnock, Paul Kaye, Ruby Stokes, Hattie Morahan, Amrita Acharia, Flynn Allen, Karla Marie Sweet, Martin Mora, Terence Rae.
Dir George Jaques, Pro George Jaques, Ken Petrie, Jamie Flatters and Ian Sharp, Screenplay Jamie Flatters and George Jaques, Ph Hamish Anderson, Pro Des Declan Price, Ed Caitlin Spiller, Music Blair Mowat, Costumes Lex Wood.
Athenaeum Productions/27 Ten Productions/Sharp House/Trademark Films-Vertigo Releasing.
96 mins. UK. 2023. UK Rel: 19 August 2024. No Cert.
