The Road Dance

All the previous reviews give glowing comments about The Road Dance, but I watched it with an increasing sense of unease. I know the movie was set in a time when talking openly about sexual matters was considered shameful by all and sundry, but because of this shame the girl felt, a man died at his own hand, a baby died because the girl did not take proper steps to care for it while pregnant, the mother encouraged her other daughter to adopt underhand tactics to protect the family's reputation, and the police office was frustrated in doing his job as he should have done to bring the rapist to justice and prevent him from committing a similar attack on some other young girl. And all because the girl did not want gossip to spread throughout the community. Rather selfish really. I cannot rate this movie very highly.

Nice movie but with a stupid ending and I don't mean the mindless happy end at the end of the movie. The problem is the stupid solution the writers came up with to justify how the girl discovered her rapist. The night the doctor raped her everyone was drunk and clearly everyone could be the girl's rapist. But when the girl realizes that the rapist is the doctor because he reeked of whiskey it's silly because anyone who would approach her and reeked of whiskey could be her rapist. It's not a strong evidence of someone's guilt the smell of whiskey especially in Scotland when the action takes place where whiskey is their national drink and everyone drinks whiskey so anyone could be accused of being the rapist. In my opinion, the identification of the rapist should be done by other elements, e.g. A button from the doctor's clothes, his watch, an element belonging to the doctor. It would be even more dramatic if the doctor himself approached her and told her that he was her rapist and asked her to forgive him. But identifying the doctor as a rapist because he reeked of whiskey is absurd and comical. The writers should have worked on it more to come up with a more plausible explanation of the identity of the rapist. Other than that the movie is very good and worth watching. The actors were all very good and Hermione Corfield who played the girl was also very good.

A reasonable film, well acted and beautifully shot. A tragidrama in many ways, with a bit of mystery thrown in too, the themes of futility in war and also that of women's roles in early 20th century and the associated hardships and cultural taboos that come with that territory are all well-explored. The film has two weaknesses in my view, the first is the ending - I won't go into too much detail but it is disappointing and departs from what it was building up to. The film would be an 8/10 if it finished ten mins earlier. The 2nd is the setting and language. It isn't believable for a small Lewis village to be entirely English speaking in 1916 (it isn't believable in rural Lewis in 2023 even), which jars from fully immersing in the scene and finding it realistic. This could have been circumnavigated either by having the film at least bilingual between Scottish Gaelic and English, or by setting the film somewhere just as rugged and isolated in Scotland but known to be English speaking eg. Shetland or Orkney would have worked just as well, and then slightly changing the rural activity from potato crofting to something else to suit the different location if needed. Insisting on keeping the setting as Lewis, and even more so in that time, but with a 100% English language film was a mistake in my book. Still a solid watch all the same, where you root for the protagonist.

If you are feeling down, then definitely do not watch this agonisingly bleak tale of life in the Hebrides during the first world war. From beginning to end it is downbeat with a predictable middle and highly improbable ending. It is all here; rape, death, hypocrisy, bigotry and the always dreadful scenes of young boys being sent off to the killing fields of France with God supposedly looking over them. No laughs here! Against the rural backdrop of the Scottish Hebrides, Richie Adams' The Road Dance, adapted from the critically acclaimed novel from John MacKay, tells a pretty bleak tale of grief, trauma and community. It's a powerful rumination on how hard island life was during WW1, and how one fateful night can alter the course of a hopeful young woman's life forever.

source: The Road Dance

Stunningly Filmed, beautifully felt... a perfect period piece that was felt by all in the cinema. I very much enjoyed this whole film. A little bit of everything for me. Location, accents, romance, heart ache, strong women, heroic men, mystery and love. The close up vision of each actress and actor were stunning and gentle. I would highly recommend seeing this one on a big screen if possible, to appreciate the grand, vast lands that the film was set in. Thank you for a story so beautifully told. Critics that did not enjoy this film, would be hard pressed to please, perfect for this very busy time of the year.

THE ROAD DANCE was a wonderful surprise of a movie! The title, THE ROAD DANCE, didn't give any significant indication of the themes or style of the movie. However, this film is a lesson in life, family, friendship, and love - and the incredible pressures imposed on women in certain periods of history (and in some modern contexts still) to conform to social mores that oppress women and have the potential to destroy their lives. The story takes place on the Outer Hebrides in Scotland during WWI just before the war breaks out. The main character of this deeply moving movie is a young girl named Kirsty McLeod, who lives in a small village that is patriarchal and rigidly conservative. Kirsty's character shows us how courage, strength, and determination can prevail even in the most oppressive of circumstances. She's a bright, beautiful girl who dreams of a better life and the chance to go for her dreams. Then a profound tragedy strikes, and things begin to unravel quickly. Kirsty is forced to choose between societal expectations of a woman or a more liberated choice that could potentially cost her everything she holds dear. The cinematography of THE ROAD DANCE is stunning. The movie does an exquisite job of conveying a sense of the dark beauty of the Outer Hebrides. The strong female characters are all incredibly passionate and dynamic, and they find strength in each other during this most challenging time. Hermione Corfield, who plays Kirsty, is fantastic as she takes us through an emotionally intense journey, and she carries the movie with her breathtaking acting performance. I won't say too much more about the plot, as it should be experienced in full, but I will say that THE ROAD DANCE is an important movie which every woman and man should watch. My only criticism is that the story should have ended before the actual end (if that makes sense) which seemed rushed and highly contrived. That aside, I was deeply moved by THE ROAD DANCE. It is an incredible film and I highly recommend it - go see it!

Excellent film. Didn't have any preconceived ideas. Beautiful performances. I read the book after seeing the movie and wasn't disappointed but as I suspected the storyline has been altered for the film but not to the detriment of either media. Go and see.

I read some of the comments here and I agree with most of them. A very heart wrenching and genuinely touching story well and convincingly played by the main actress Hermione Corfield. A good thing that we see independent movies reach this level of performance. Until just now there where a 196 ratings with an overall rating of 7.1. What got me fuming though is that there where still 20 votes that gave this gem a rating of 1. Instead of just giving a rating they should have made a review as there is absolutely NO justification with so much real awkward movies about well deserving of the lowest rating possible. In the beginning it was mentioned that the movie was inspired by true events which I find rather misleading. Of course one can always claim that something is inspired by true events. Doesn't mean to say that it was based on an actual true story. But like I say fiction or not. This are two hours of truly enjoyable viewing pleasure.