THE ROAD Dance
When watching The Road Dance for the first time, you get a strong feeling you know which way the story is going to go. With the theme of war running throughout, in this case The Great War, which ravaged small communities such as the one depicted in the film, a viewer would lean towards thinking this is going to be the focus of the story. But they’d be wrong. The heartbreak and tragedy of sending young boys off to fight an enemy, thousands of miles away, for a seemingly unnecessary cause, makes for an emotional storyline itself. However, the real focus of the story is those left behind, and without giving too much away, how a series of tragedies affects one young girl and her family.
Based on the 2002 novel of the same name by Scottish news presenter John MacKay, which itself is loosely based on a true story, The Road Dance is set on the beautiful, wild and rugged Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, which has sometimes been called ‘the edge of the world.’
The drama and harshness of the landscape contributes to the atmosphere of the film, but it also helps to highlight the power of this small community, living an isolated life within a strict religious culture, which must band together in
