The Road Dance is a sad and romantic film with a too-good-to-be-true ending. Director Richie Adams (Of Mind and Music) seems to want to tie up everything with a blue ribbon, whereas it might have been better to end the film five minutes earlier. (But no spoilers.) The story takes place on the Isle of Lewis, a remote farming community in the Outer Hebrides (part of Scotland) as World War I is looming.
Sweethearts Kirsty MacLeod (Hermione Corfield) and Murdo MacAuley (Will Fletcher), are just forming a serious relationship as the film begins. He reads poetry (by the new American poet Robert Frost) and a Dickens novel (tucked inside his Bible) and Kirsty is eager for adventure—and ready to leave the island. They both want to go to America, where Murdo has an uncle ready to welcome them; he proposes marriage and she accepts. Then the local boys are called up to fight in Europe and the community decides to have a road dance to see them off. It’s a lively event with local musical talent, dancing and drinking. Late in the evening, Kirsty goes off (to take a wee) and is attacked and raped while she‘s alone in the dark. She and Murdo say goodbye in the morning; Kirsty’s head is wrapped in a bandage from a fall (her explanation for what happened to her the night before). The film’s last third, while no doubt pleasing for the romantics among us, is melodramatic.
Kirsty’s inability to share the violence that occurred, even to her loving mother (Morven Christie) and sister Annie (Ali Fumiko Whitney) is emblematic of women’s situation of the times—and even today. The story highlights the problem of sexual assault and women’s fear of not being believed—or even blamed for their own attack—if they speak out. But later in the film, the women of the village support Kirsty.
The visual background—the rocky shores of the Atlantic washing up on the Isle of Lewis—adds to the story’s intensity. Petra Korner, director of photography, uses that stunning background along with the thick-walled stone cottages, to create a setting for the hard lives lived in these early years of the 20th century. The film’s interiors, however, seemed prettied up, since the peat fires (worse than coal) burned for warmth and cooking would have resulted in a much dingier, smokier atmosphere. The dim lighting in night scenes, both interior and exterior, is realistic.
Adams’ direction draws realistic performances from the principals. Corfield portrays Kirsty’s will and determination throughout her tragedy. Morven Christie is a loving and fierce mother who shines in one particularly dramatic scene.
Adams, a native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, had never been to Scotland before the filming of The Road Dance. He says he felt an outsider’s eye might have been helpful in bringing out the beauty and mystical nature of the island’s environment, while someone who grew up there might take it for granted.
The film, inspired by true events, is based on a 2002 historical novel by John MacKay, a well-known Glasgow TV journalist. The events took place near his grandparents’ home in the Outer Hebrides. Mackay served as an adviser to Adams on the film.
The Road Dance is being screened at the Music Box Theatre.
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