THE NEAR ROOM
Child pornography, drugs, prostitution — The Near Room's controversial subject matter is sure to touch raw nerves when this Scottish thriller hits local cinemas. But director DAVID HAYMAN and actor ADRIAN DUNBAR are unrepentant.
Words: Alan Morrison
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IT’S ALI. Ql 'IEN'I‘IN 'l‘arantino's fault. He may have revitalised the crime movie with Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction. but not without some damage to the genre along the way. Worlds that were once genuinely dark and dangerous have become cool and cartoonish. where flippant comcrsations on pop culture have replaced more searching excursions into the darkest recesses of the human soul.
Into this sea of playful red herrings comes a different kettle of fish. The Near Room follows Glasgow-based journalist (Tharlic (‘olquhoun (played by Irish actor Adrian
Dunbar) through a city suffering a moral breakdown. where corruption creates a chain of decay from the lowest to the highest levels of society. (‘olquhoun is on the trail of a missing girl. the key to a child pornography scandal — but also. as fate would have it. the long-lost daughter he was forced to give away when he was sixteen. The New Room‘s look redefines the term film noir: like Seven. it‘s a dark movie both visually and thematically, although its cinematic references reach back a little further than David Fincher‘s exercise in bleak stylishness.
Barrel of a gun: Adrian Dunbar comes knocking in The Near Room