Spikeopath The Keeping Room is directed by Daniel Barber and written by Julia Hart. It stars Brit Marling, Hailee Steinfeld, Muna Otaru, Sam Worthington and Kyle Soller. Music is by Martin Phipp and cinematography by Martin Ruhe.It's the back end of the American Civil War and 3 women fight to defend their home from 2 Union Army "Bummers"...Uncle Billy is coming!As genres go, the Western (Re: Southerns - Civil Wars) are primarily male dominated, but just occasionally female led pictures from this ilk come forth to shine bright. It's refreshing that in this modern era of film making, genre film makers are not afraid to pitch the female angle to remind all that women had a key part in the shaping of the frontiers all those years ago. Or as is the case here, they were not merely token fodder, but often women of strength prepared to take up the fight to protect themselves when under duress.Daniel Barber and Julia Hart have crafted a magnetic piece, that aside from a daft misstep at pic's finale booms with feminist wiles. Opening with a burst of shocking violence and sexual assault inference, this is merely an attention grabbing appertiser as the pic then settles into a languid realm. The makers are in no hurry here, those expecting an action fuelled piece are in for great disappointment. Not to say further jolts to the system are not forthcoming, they exist and are truly throat grabbing, but tone is set at earthy realism, the sparse locations sidling up nicely with the lives of the women functioning while their loved ones are lost to the war that rages on the edge of the frame.Performances are top end, the girls superb, the boys frighteningly on the boil for the dark side that the war would bore out. As for the look as per tech credits? With the pic being shot in Romania it is natural to approach this thinking it will lack for period flavours, yet it very much does come up trumps there. Anyone familiar with the Barber and Ruhe collaboration Harry Brown 2009, and liked its aesthetical look, will appreciate the craft on show here, more so as Phipps' musical score compliments like some sort of edgy spectre. Barber has an eye for stunning shots, here with such things as a burning carriage in flight post crime committed, or our heroine on white horse in flight through a lonely tree laden pathway, there is beauty here in a world containing monsters.*SPOILER* Resolution of the play is frustrating and rewarding in equal measure, the women strong and correctly earning our admiration - that they have to dress as men to escape the horrors of war just doesn't strike the right chord in a play with such a strong feminine bent - but that could just be me being picky...Not one for those lacking patience, or misogynistic geezers who expect women in Westerns to be token fodder or punch bags, The Keeping Room has much to offer genre fans embracing this sort of story telling as a whole. 8/10

hanshep-35461 The plot of the movie was very intense, it kept you on the edge of your seat, However, at the same time you can learn what it was like to live back in the time of the Civil War.

SnoopyStyle It's the last days of the American Civil War. Sisters Augusta (Brit Marling) and Louise (Hailee Steinfeld) live on a farm with their only slave Mad. Two marauding Union soldiers arrive ahead of the main Army.This is a sparse small production. The writing is sparing. The subject matter lends itself for a tougher intensity but it opts for a weary atmosphere. It doesn't flinch from the violence but it doesn't revel in action. It is an indie film overall.

Dan Harden From the director of the Michael Caine vigilante justice movie Harry Brown, comes the story of three girls, two sisters and their slave, living off their land and their wits in order to survive the advances by two rogue union soldiers. The film aims to deliver a handful of intriguing messages and representations but just falls short in its effort to express them impactfully.However, I must say that the films take on race relations and the representation of the character Mad was fantastic. Wonderfully brought to the screen by Muna Otaru, Mad is the family slave and is therefore an outsider to the family unit of the sisters. But as the film progresses we begin to learn more about Mad's past as a slave, in fact we learn more about her character than anyone else and so she is the character you warm to and root for the most, especially when having the balls to retaliate and slap Augusta back. Being the family slave, Mad becomes the film's vessel on race relations in the 1800's and her journey throughout the film successfully foreshadows the abolishment of slavery as well as the black movements in the 100+ years to come.As well as race representation, the film also offers a rather positive and interesting representation of gender. The film is a female lead western which already subverts the genre, the fact that these women are strong and fight back when pushed further reinforces this genre subversion and positive representation of women, away from the weak hookers of almost every other western film ever. This of course is down to the writing of Julia Hart's script and the performances of the three leads, especially Brit Marling and Muna Otaru and so I applaud their efforts.Although representations were good, narratively I felt the film was weak. The film's pace was off as the film moves slowly but the home invasion moved very quickly. The film doesn't really get started properly until it's about 40 minutes in, I know that relationships need to be established and the film is set on race and gender representations but the films story becomes almost dormant as this happens and also I do feel more should have happened after seeing what the film actually achieves in 40 minutes.I also fail to see the purpose of the mysterious black man, his character amounts to very little even though the film attempts to give him some purpose in terms of race relations and connections to Mad, but I can't help but feel that this character was rather pointless in the grand scheme of things. The films ending also falls flat of any real impact, in my opinion, as it feels rushed. I do appreciate the message of the ending but I just feel the execution was a little weak.Overall, The Keeping Room is a moderate film that doesn't quite match the effectiveness it's messages hold. With a strong cast and representations it's a good representation piece, but the overall film itself is a moderate western. It's a slow and, at times, suspenseful film that aptly follows the opening quote, "The crueler it is, the sooner it will be over."