The Road Dance

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.

Was pleasantly surprise by the structure of the film,very well photographed,good script , strong cast.the ending through me a curve ball even though my wife had guessed it earlier.keepa up a good run of UK films .well done.

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.

The good; so nice to see a well made romantic drama again. I would like to give 8 stars for the photography, because of the beautiful low lighted scenes, which transported me to another era, with such beautiful mellow, dark colors.

More good: there isnt any fault to be found with this movie, because everything from acting to directing to the story is top notch.

I didnt know any of these actors but I was impressed by the leading actor's talent and charisma.

The story in itself is a solid romantic drama, which could touch anyones heart. It is a slowburning period drama, which might be a bit slow in the middle, but the dramatic final is quite rewarding, so have some patience, you will be rewarded!

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.