Shadow Dancer (2012)

Set in 1990s Belfast, an active member of the IRA becomes an informant for MI5 in order to protect her son's welfare.

Director:

James Marsh

Writers:

Tom Bradby (novel), Tom Bradby (screenplay)

Stars:

Clive Owen, Andrea Riseborough, Gillian Anderson

7 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Clive Owen	...	Mac
Andrea Riseborough	...	Collette McVeigh
Gillian Anderson	...	Kate Fletcher
Aidan Gillen	...	Gerry
Domhnall Gleeson	...	Connor
Brid Brennan	...	Ma
David Wilmot	...	Kevin Mulville
Stuart Graham	...	Ian Gilmour
Martin McCann	...	Brendan
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tom Bennett	...	Watcher 2
Bradley Burke	...	Young Jimmy
Una C.	...	Brendan's Mother (as Una Caryll)
Alan Devine	...	Barman
Andrew Holohan	...	British Soldier
Mark Huberman

Storyline

Set in 1990s Belfast, an active member of the IRA becomes an informant for MI5 in order to protect her son's welfare.

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Plot Keywords:

terrorism | terrorist | based on novel

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Taglines:

Collette McVeigh - Mother, Daughter, Sister, Spy.

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some violent content

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

UK Ireland

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 August 2012 (UK)

Also Known As:

Agente C - Dupla Identidade

Filming Locations:

Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland

Company Credits

Production Co:

BBC Films, Element Pictures, Irish Film Board

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Clive Owen originally turned down the part of Mac due to scheduling conflicts.

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Goofs

When Collette gets on the train, the camera focuses on a passenger but the view behind her suggests the train doors are open and tucked behind the double-layer glass but the sound effect of the trains movement is continued.

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Connections

Featured in Projector: Shadow Dancer (2012)

User Reviews

Sombre story about the latter days of the Troubles

This is director James Marsh's first fiction movie. He has hitherto been known as a great documentary maker, including last year's excellent Project Nim. In Shadow Dancer he has put together a film set during the Troubles period of Northern Ireland's history. In it a girl with IRA connections is coerced into becoming an informant for MI5. This leads to several compromising and dangerous situations. While the movie is set within a clear political situation, it isn't really a political film. The focus is specifically on the role of the informer in this powder keg context. At the time there were many people in similar situations and the movie tries to look at both the dangers that they found themselves in and the complex moral dilemmas that effected people on all sides of the conflict, both republicans and British intelligence. As such, Shadow Dancer is about people, as opposed to politics and it doesn't really make any subjective comment on rights and wrongs. It's clear that both sides of the fence act in sordid ways. The distrust amongst the high command on both sides is shown to be similar. Civil war is never a simple affair.

It's a well-acted and intelligently written film. It's low-key and pensive rather than a suspenseful thrill-ride. Perhaps it's a little too slow paced and sober for its own good at times but it does gather steam in the final third and things are wrapped up quite effectively by the end with a series of events that fall into place with tragic inevitability.