Review of The Arbor (2010) by Dave J — 28 Oct 2010

A brave film that does fresh, bold things with the documentary form. But oh boy, a lot of it is hard to watch. It's a truly harrowing tale of potential stunted and crushed by substance abuse and low self-esteem, with the damage passed on down the generations. We see how Andrea Dunbar drew material for her plays from hard times and unhappy family life in a grim part of Bradford, but her short life seems to have been a breeze compared to that of her daughter Lorraine, movingly portrayed here by Manjinder Virk.The technique of having actors lip-synch to the voices of the real protagonists works remarkably well, and brings some outstanding performances from the cast An outsider from birth as a mixed-race child in an intolerant environment, Lorraine (via her own voice and Virk's presence) tells a story that is one long catalogue of sexual and emotional abuse, violence, disastrous choices and bereavement.

A measure of light relief is provided by another odd device: staging scenes from Andrea's plays outdoors on the estate where she lived. Her raw dramatic talent comes alive again in these energetically played extracts. But the stories told here are almost all sad ones, and if anything the film suggests that life on the Buttershaw estate where Andrea lived is now even worse than it was in her day. One of the few glimmers of light in the film is the affection with which some of those who were there still remember the hard-drinking playwright, despite the harm that her choices did to herself and others. There is a wide range of opinion about Andrea here, with the harshest judgement unsurprisingly coming from Lorraine, the daughter who heard her mother say that she wished she'd never been born. But it is striking how many of Andrea's family and friends remain fiercely loyal to the memory of one of their own who managed to rise above her origins, however briefly.