The use of non-actors is a nice touch, giving
tangible authenticity to the story and the
environment. The old man who tries to sing a
song is adorable. The guests at the Eagle pub
are just so real you can smell the mix of
sweat and brew in the air. The most relatable
character - throughout the entire film - is
Eddie, who takes Bodkin under his wings, as
by replacing the void his sons left when they
killed themselves. One of the film’s biggest
achievements is to incorporate the manifold
authentic personality traits of these people,
who you otherwise wouldn't believe actually
exist.
Bodkin, as the only professional actor played
by Sohrab Bayat, is a divisive character. He is
not the sort of main lead one would
sympathise with easily, there is just enough
background story emerging to know there is
something dodgy in his past, something not
quite right. However, there is also sufficient
amount of doubt raised to question wether
we ought to redeem Bodkin or we are right
to judge him? That is thanks to the narrative
of James ‘Red’ Macmillan, as a sort of
interpreter or narrator who keeps
commenting on delicate subjects by bringing
his personal, aggressive past up as an
example.
Violence, loss, grief is lurking in every corner
of this, calm, sleepy Scottish village. The
ghosts and shadows of long-gone relatives
and unfulfilled dreams are walking hand in
hand with the characters in a freakish way,
thereby providing a chilled to the bone
experience.
Bodkin Ras leaves you with the a universal
question. Are people inherently bad or
inherently good? Can we look at life as black
and white? Or there is a slim path for the
righteous, and most people just stumble and
astray due to circumstantial factors.
Modiri’s film not for the mainstream under
any circumstances. It is an art-film in its
own right. The aerial shots that frame the
story both at the beginning and end, are
showing real, great filmmaking skills,
together with the direct handheld camera
and docu-fiction approach. The soundtrack
couldn’t be more fitting to the film and
brilliantly builds up suspense throughout the
entire film. Bodkin Ras premiered at
Rotterdam where it won the international
FIPRESCI award.
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