- Director: John Maclean
- Screenplay: John Maclean
- Cast: Kōki, Jack Lowden, Takehiro Hira, Tim Roth, Joanne Whalley
- Cinematography: Robbie Ryan
- Score: Jed Kurzel
- Genre: Period action drama
- Runtime: 91 minutes
A full decade after his last feature film, ‘Slow West‘, John Maclean returns with another revisionist Western: ‘Tornado‘. This one, filmed on location in Maclean’s native Scotland, makes great use of the steep, rugged hills of the Edinburgh area.
It includes the elements of a traditional Western – a lone protagonist up against the forces of evil, some stolen treasure and bloody vengeance – but infused with a healthy dose of Japanese samurai swordplay. A peculiar mix, yet it works wonderfully.
The plot is simple to follow: our central figure, Tornado (Kōki), fed up with her life on the road as a travelling puppeteer alongside her father (Takehiro Hira), seizes the opportunity to change and swipes two sacks of gold from a thuggish cabal, led by Sugarman (Tim Roth). Thus begins a chase across the mountains and nearby forestry to recoup their missing loot from her grasp.
Tornado is a woman of few words, much like Clint Eastwood’s character in Sergio Leone’s ‘Dollars‘ trilogy. In the long gaps between snatches of dialogue, you can’t help but marvel at the landscape; it’s as bleak as it is beautiful. In fact, the muddy terrain and its absolute lack of glamour heighten the atmosphere of hostility as Tornado flees on foot. Robbie Ryan’s cinematography in the woodland scenes, using natural light, goes down a storm as does the stirring score from Jed Kurzel.
“I am Tornado. Remember my name.” she says at the end of her puppet show. Is this a request or a command? Either way, I shall.
My rating: 7 / 10
SilverScreen 