Writers: Jan-Ole Gerster, Blaz Kutin and Lawrie Doran
Director: Jan-Ole Gerster
Composer: Dascha Dauenhauer
Screenwriters have a tough task these days, knowing we might have consumed hundreds or thousands of stories before the one they’re telling. They still have to try to surprise the audience, to reel us in like willing minnows. This team succeeds.
Islands is far from the first playful indie noir filmed in colour and bright sunlight. Its production values seem familiar – intriguing, slow-burning drama within well-clipped economical scenes; tension reinforced by an unobtrusive but affecting music score.
An awkward triangle is established, with jaded hotel tennis pro Tom (Sam Riley) invited to socialise with Anne (Stacy Martin) and her unsympathetic husband Dave (Jack Farthing). The presence of Anne and Dave’s young son, Anton (Dylan Torrell), whose tennis lessons have brought the adults together in the first place, provides the binding agent for the plot and adds an urgent note of realism to the action.
That the film was shot entirely on location, on the holiday island of Fuerteventura, adds greatly to its appeal. While the cinematography of Juan Sarmiento G. comes up with some beautiful compositions, we also see the island from the point of view of those who live there – especially Tom – and gain a glimpse of its humdrum, slightly sordid underbelly.
It’s a strength of the script that we’re given little of Tom’s backstory. You only have to look at Sam Riley’s weathered face to get a sense of the character’s pragmatism and disappointment. His distinctive rapport with each of his co-stars is rendered superbly. Tom is someone who’s not naturally sociable, but who has had to learn to be friendly towards a wide array of people – some of them wantonly misbehaving – in order to survive.
The tourists he meets try to second-guess his motivation for staying on the island, but he shows puzzlement and flatly contradicts them. In the normal run of events, he has his own reasons for doing things. But now he’s ineluctably drawn towards Anne, his very own femme fatale.
Of the twists and turns in the plot, it would be wrong to divulge too much, save to say that they are all present and correct. The screenwriters mostly stay a few steps ahead of us, spinning their yarn with skill and artistry. Highly recommended.
Islands – in UK cinemas 12 September.
