Director Matthew Barton matches the emotional intensity of singer Nadine Shah with this interesting relationship piece, featuring a sterling performances from both male lead Gareth Murphy and Nadine Shah. The promo follows the couple, caught in a difficult romance, and subtly highlights the increasingly irrational behaviour of Gareth’s character.
Matthew explains that a close connection to the singer allowed him to explore a very personal depiction of the song’s narrative: “Nadine and I have known each other since school days. Although I had intended for the piece to be a re-enactment of the song I wasn’t prepared for the many similarities that would occur between the film and the song’s real life episode. The location used was Nadine’s brother’s, karim. The song was in fact written about a past relationship that played out in his house three years earlier.
“Our male lead, Gareth Murphy whose performance was pivotal in the piece, confessed to similar mental difficulties that had plagued Nadine’s partner at the time. I’ve always been interested in where fiction meets documentary, this piece served to stoke the fire even further.”
Nadine Shah
Dreary Town
Director: Matthew Barton
DOP: Marcus Autelli
Focus puller: Matthew Robinson
Edit/grade: Francisco Forbes
Art director: Aristotelis Maragkos
Stylist: Elin Evans
Make up: Alexia Dolman
Cast/Male lead: Gareth Murphy
Cast/Female lead: Nadine Shah
Special thanks: Karim Shah