Headshot
Brutal action flick from Indonesia featuring Raid star Iko Uwais
Martial arts films have a great talent for testing the technical boundaries of cinema, mostly by hurling body after body up against them until they break through to something new. The Raid star Iko Uwais will be the main draw for bloody vengeance thriller Headshot but the camera itself is the star: throughout the film we see a rogues' gallery of foes try to match his lightning blows but the only one able to meet him step for step is the camera itself, converting what could have been a blur of blood and battery into something visceral, intense and gripping.
La La Land drew praise for the gymnastics of its camera as it twirled through Chazelle’s candy-coloured dream: the view in Headshot is a little like that after a line of coke and a punch in the head. With the feel of an overloaded nervous system, Headshot has a twitching taut style that perfectly captures the mad violence of Uwais’ amnesiac hero as he tries to tear his way back to his identity. Stamboel and Tjahjanto’s blistering action film holds up over two hours of brutality through a constant supply of violent innovation and a well-used handful of visual gags.
Headshot screened at Glasgow Film Festival: 19 Feb, GFT, 8.30pm | 20 Feb, GFT, 3.30pm
Read more about Glasgow Film Festival in The CineSkinny – in print at Glasgow Film Festival venues and online at theskinny.co.uk/film/cineskinny