Dead Man's Shoes is one of the most powerful British films of the last few years, or ever. In terms of intensity it's certainly the best we've had since Sexy Beast, with a central, intimidating performance from Paddy Considine that's destined to have posters of him glaring out from student bedroom walls across the land.

Director Shane Meadows and Considine, who previously worked together on A Room For Romeo Brass, decided to write the film after being inspired by smalltown crimes, the type which Shane says are "ingrained into the community but never addressed". Set in a Midlands village, the story introduces us to Richard (Considine) and his slightly retarded brother Anthony (Toby Kebbell), both returning to their home turf after a few years away. Richard's arrival is treated with particular suspicion, paranoia and fear by the local small-time drug dealers and thugs. Then it gets nasty.

We spoke to Paddy Considine. He's an angry man.

It's kind of hard to review this film without giving something away, which I hate doing... It would be great if everyone went in to see it with no pre-conceptions, but there has to be enough to get them interested in the first place.

It's a bastard, and I agree with you totally. When people say "What's it about", the one thing you don't want to say is it's a revenge story, because you've fucked it: people are already mentioning Get Carter, and there's nothing Get Carter about this movie. It's like... look man, this film is on it's own, it's out there. It uses classic elements of the Western, the revenge idea, it mixes so many things up that we feel confident that there's something fucking different here, even if nobody sees this film at least we know we've done something different with it. Shane and myself were watching things like Halloween, and I was thinking of things like Chainsaw Massacre, Deliverance, just the look of those movies. And without trying to copy that, without trying to do mad shit with the camera, it was just that lo-fi idea.

It kind of grabs you by the throat after a few minutes then never lets go. What mood were you going for?

We started off writing a comedy, about a guy who's oppressed by his social surroundings and decides to go out and get involved in all the corruption, kind of being a superhero, getting in-between in altercations, getting kids off drugs, just being a mysterious guy who walks along rooftops. But it just wouldn't work. So we said, what's this about? And it's about a guy who's so steeped in anger, so steeped in all these fucking emotions... you know, there's no cooling off period for this man, something bad happened in his life, and after years of contemplation he's going to right this wrong in his head, for better or worse.

I read that you were partly inspired by unreported smalltown atrocities.

Yeah. There are just instances that happen within communities that go unchecked, there's stuff that happens that the police never get to know about, that nobody gets to know about. They're not even conceived as being crimes. Someone could go into a guy's house and beat up a man in front of his missus, cos they're having an affair, beat him up in front of his kids. Or a married bloke could be getting it on with a 13 year old and giving her one. I just know of instances where similar things have happened and just go unchecked, not even considered to be bad things. Those little instances that go on that people tend to ignore. Aside from that, the film for me is about how easily people who do the most awful shit can just carry on with their lives. And just fucking bury it. They could be responsible for a life being taken, but they can carry on and live with it.

Did it knacker you at all, playing this character?

It sometimes did. I'm quite good at switching. Actually I say that, but that shit lingers. I think with this character, I'm trying to exorcise something that I have within myself. I can linger on shit. You know, stuff happens with me, I can linger on it for a while. It can be stupid things, someone gives me a funny look down the gym. Or someone treats you like a twat, then you walk away and think, what's stopping me now from picking that weight up and putting it through your fuckin' face? You know. Then leaving it. But then a month later thinking, why didn't I pick that weight up and push it through his fuckin' face? And then a year down the line thinking the same fuckin' thing, that time in the gym, I wish I'd just picked that weight up, if it was now I'd just push it through his fuckin' face.

You never would though.

No you wouldn't, but I'm thinking why, why is this anger still there, why does it circulate within me? Why can't I just get rid of it, because I don't like it, it's not me.

It sounds like you're going to turn to Buddhism.

Yeah. You're only a reflection of what's around you, if you grow up in a community where things are morally accepted, on the street...

And it kind of sticks with you from your playground years as well.

I think it does. I know morally you can't go and hit someone in the face. It's bullshit, and it's ugly. If I see violence, I'm the first person who goes white and feels sick. The repression of anger though, how far do you go, when do you switch off and say "Oh fuck it, it doesn't mean anything." I can still think of times when I was 17 and think, 'I should have smacked that cunt'. I'm a 30-year-old man, I'm married with a kid, why do I think that way? It's a purely macho bullshitty thing that's manifested itself, because men just can't say they're sorry and walk away, because they feel the other guy walks away with the upper hand. It is just pure playground bullshit. I probably will turn to fuckin' Buddhism.