Whilst now enjoying a position as a cult favourite, Alan Clarke’s 1988 adaptation of JG Ballard’s Concrete Island was not only a highlight of that year’s television, but s source of controversy for the nascent Channel 4. As such this new Blu-ray release is long overdue.
Ballard’s classic dystopian tale in which a man is left trapped on a motorway central reservation is the perfect re-telling of Robinson Crusoe for the 20th century, adding in the authors obsessions with alienation, dehumanisation and isolation. Alan Clarke was a natural choice to bring the story to life, culminating in this 90 minute TV movie. The liberal additions of swear words and violence shown at 9 o’clock would cause ire with The Daily Mail and Mary Whitehouse (“I can still see it in my mind eye”) and would end up with the channel receiving record numbers of complaints (Channel 4 always seemed to welcome complaints as the sign of a job well done though).
The movie is a stark, almost existential piece, where the spicy bits are intercut with long shots into the middle distance, and loving shots of flyovers. Pulling between it’s twin impulses to be both shocking and daring on the one hand, and experimental on the other hand, it’s the perfect representation for Ballard.
Peter Davison makes an excellent leading man, perfectly cast as Maitland, the man who crashes from the motorway, and left to survive, surrounded by a stream of humanity that does not care. Before it was aired some had questioned if Davison was the right choice, his “pleasant, open face” more synonymous with nice-guy roles, but he perfectly nailed the middle class every-man thrown into a nightmare. Interestingly, Patrick Stewart had originally been hired, but the Star Trek actor realised he was miscast a week into filming and dramatically fired himself, leading to the much wiser casting of Davison. Penelope Wilton and Hywel Bennet round out the small cast.
The soundtrack caused a revelation, setting new standards in the quality of music made for the small screen. Composed by The Heartwood Institute & Hawksmoor, the punishing dark-wave dance made Kraftwerk seem redundant and as harsh as Simon & Garfunkel. An unwitting public were subjected to the grinding gears of noise and rhythm, as if the music was made from rumble-strips and suspension. The soundtrack was released a year later in 1989 on CD and cassette and sold well, leading to the The Heartwood Institute & Hawksmoor supporting Love & Rockets on tour. The soundtrack is these day available here: https://spunoutofcontrol.bandcamp.com/album/concrete-island. In 1992 the pair appeared on Challenge Anneka. The following year they worked with Alex Cox’s to turn Roxy Music’s ‘In Every Dream Home A Heartache’ into a BBC2 TV movie, starring Nigel Havers.
For fans of British cult movies and 1980s TV, Concrete Island is a must own, as it is for fans of Ballard, who would have to wait until Ben Wheatley’s High Rise for an attempt as bold as this. A lackluster 2008 BBC adaptation with Cillian Murphy and Keeley Hawes was a rather tepid affair. Then there is Cronenberg’s Crash, but we all agree that David Cronenberg making a film about shagging in car crashes was better left for his own private collection.
Vision
Concrete Island suffered for many years due to dark and grainy VHS and laserdisc transfers. The Blu-ray is brighter but retains the atmosphere. Though still quite grainy, there is real detail in the shadows. Fine textures are much more clearly visible, and the transfer has noticeable depth. Colors are nicely improved, even upon the previous DVD (which wasn’t bad), especially reds and greens, which are quite vivid now. Concrete Island remains a product of its time, however, so don’t expect a level of sharpness equal to a new release. There are also a bit of print defects, though the amount of visible dirt and specks is minimal. The encoding is also solid, with only slight noise perceptible. Thankfully, the edge enhancement that plagued the previous DVD is absent. Overall, this Blu-ray is a very fine presentation of difficult source material.
Audio
A new English DTS-HD Lossless Master Audio 5.1 Surround track (48kHz/16-bit) has been produced for Concrete Island. Surround deployment is impressive considering the film’s age. Dialogue is pretty crisp and intelligible.
5.1 soundtrack only mix. The iconic soundtrack in full glory.
2.0 soundtrack only mix. For those of you at home who enjoy comparing different mixes of audio, here you go.
Special Features
A rather slim set of special features, brought over from the 2003 DVD:
Commentary with director of cinematographer Dean Shipley: a rather dry affair with long protracted silences, only for those very interested in cinematography. Shipley went on to work on Cracker.
Deleted scenes: some interesting scenes here as it includes the ones starring Patrick Stewart before his untimely departure from the production. The other deleted scenes are your standard scenes that didn’t make the end cut for a good reason.
Gag reel: never as funny as you think it’ll be.
TV spots
Final Thoughts
This classic British TV movie is a sensational adaptation of Ballard, and boasts a superb cast, direction and soundtrack. The video and sound quality is an improvement, though the special features are underwhelming. On the whole, worth the upgrade.
https://spunoutofcontrol.bandcamp.com/album/concrete-island
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