In Our Name
Deserved winner of the British Independent Film Awards 2010 for
Best Upcoming Actor, Joanne Froggatt stars in Brian Welsh’s In Our Name
– a slight twist on the well worn filmmakers’ take on post traumatic
disorder, suffered by iraq war vetrans. This time, it’s a woman.
Suzy (Froggatt), a British soldier back from Iraq,
returns to her rundown council estate home in Middlesbrough. Traumatised
by the death of a child, she struggles to to reintegrate into society
and reconnect with her somewhat unsympathetic husband Mark (Raido) and young daughter Cass (Wilkinson).
To add fuel to the fire, her other half, an ex-squaddie with his own
demons to deal with, is convinced that she is having an affiar with one
of her colleagues Paul (Knott) who she served with in Iraq. This clearly is a recipe for disaster and sets the two on a course of self-destruction.
Best known for her UK television roles, Froggatt puts in a strong
performance as the broken woman – paranoid and wracked with guilt. What
let’s film down is it quest to cover too many storylines; there’s the
social underclass of Briton, the suggestion of a relationship between
Suzy and Paul and so on. The one subject – main – matter is more than
enough. Still, it does explore an interesting topic and is well worth the watch for the film lead actress.
Marcia Degia - Publisher
