ill Manors

Plan B the maverick singer and songwriter is born and bred in East London.  He is a proud Londoner, loves his city and the people in it.  Yet Ben Drew (his real name) can be thought of now as a renaissance man; a man of many trades.  He sings, acts (is about to star opposite Ray Winstone in the forthcoming Sweeney remake), produces his own music and now is a writer and director also.

Drew has written and directed ill Manors, a film set in and around his East End neighbourhood with a whole host of shady characters.  The film is just over 90 minutes long, but it uses a convincing labyrinthe plot where all the characters intersect and collide together.  At times the film can be very funny with its off the cuff remarks about authority and politics, or from the sharp angle of character themselves.  But Drew is not afraid to paint his characters in dark tones, at times the film is quite horrific in what some characters do - the prime example being when our hero Aaron (Riz Ahmed - Four Lions) and Ed (Ed Skrein) use a prostitute who they believe to have nicked Ed's mobile and use her to pay off his debt by sleeping with kebab shop owners.

Throughout this scene when the grubbiness of these late night kebab shops seeps off the screen, Aaron refuses to want to be any part of it.  Yet he has to remain by Ed's side like some lackey.  Aaron is the moral core of the film, a man with ambition to be true and get a career away from drugs and gangs of his youth.  We first meet Aaron as he meets Ed getting out from a night in prison, Ed sits there listening to people arguing (Drew's first funny scene is showing a verbal argument between a white man and a black man without showing them - instead focusing on their footwear as representative of who they are.  White trainers for the caucasian, and huge colourful trainers for the black youth), and from the outset Drew is attempting to do something different with the story.

Often he will focus on a character who you think will be the main character, but suddenly they are dispatched with by means of narrative or intervention by the soon to be character.  Yet Aaron remains for us to be the moral authority, by constantly doing the right thing.  In contrast to the sheer lack of authority figures visible in the piece, you need one character (like Spike Lee's character Mook in his own Do The Right Thing) to stand up for what is right.

Drew also does the soundtrack for the film, giving himself the chance to narrate as his alter ego, Plan B, gives his political slant on the action happening.  Plan B is very critical of the government and blaming them for the children of the nation being lost.  The film was being made during last summer and then the riots of Tottenham burst into the national consciousness in August, Plan B released his protest song 'ill Manors' and this vein of anger and resentment has grown into this message film.

The idea of a singer doing a film can sometimes be awful, but Drew has been keen to use popular film influences as a signifier, and they are not bad ones - Taxi Driver, Pulp Fiction - are both films that showed you a harsher side of the perceived reality of city life. Whereas Scorsese used hyper-violence on occasion, and Tarantino had the benefit of plot devices.  Aaron flexes his muscles in front of a mirror with a gun a la De Niro.

The best thing to say about the film is that people will probably have low expectations going in to it, meaning that people will be pleasantly surprised by the funny, creative and refreshing film that is on the screen.  Helped by a fine performance by Riz Ahmed as Aaron, that should increase his profile definitely - hence why the poster has Aaron front and centre; the cinematography feels fresh, the music is good as expected.  Expectations may be low, but it is good to see Ben Drew/Plan B stick to his guns and come out with such a gratifying and pleasing film.

ill Manors is released by Revolver Entertainment and is out now.

Payback Season

Released on Monday 4th June by Revolver Entertainment, Bafta award winning Adam Deacon fronts this London set film about a Premier League footballer whose run in with his old crew from the estate brings more heartache than joy.

Adam Deacon rose to prominence by writing and directing the film Anuvahood, a film that parodied and spoofed the swath of urban gangster youth London films; mimicking the racial stereotypes and archetypes portrayed in low budget films.

What is surprising is that he would choose to star in a film that is fit for the same parody that he made his name out of.  Deacon plays Jerome who grew up on an estate whose rise to prominence is immediate and rapid. In his busy schedule and away from his penthouse flat, he still visits his mum and younger brother from the estate.  One night he bumps into his old crew and invites them to enjoy the pleasures of a lavish night out thanks to his new found riches.

Jerome is approached by Baron (David Ajala) who has cash flow problems, Jerome should walk away here but his misplaced service of loyalty and trust leads him to giving Baron £10,000 - an act of trust yet leads to tragic events as Baron's psychotic side reveals itself endangering the safety of Jerome himself and his friends.

The film could have been so much better had it attempted to make a social comment on urban youth's descent into trouble and anti-social behaviour, and how Jerome as a model of inspiration instead he is someone who enables those with no ambition but to cause trouble.

Deacon is a good actor, but this was the wrong vehicle for him to be a lead as he does not convince as a top rate footballer.  Ajala as Baron does convince bringing enough menace and fear to an unsettling character, who is rendered effectively.

Revolver Entertainment specialise in these sort of urban dramas - luckily they have a winning film forthcoming this week, as Plan B's (Ben Drew) directorial debut ill Manors is out this week having seen a preview of that particular film that is a significant improvement on this offering; with some brilliant sense of direction, political statement and inventive photography.

Payback Season is out now on DVD

The Round-Up DVD review

Directed by Roselyne Bosch, The Round Up is a faithful retelling of the events of July 1942 when more than 13,000 Parisian Jews (including 4,000 children) were rounded up and taken to the now notorious Velodrome d'Hiver sports stadium, by the Nazis in a then form of ethnic cleansing.

Based on meticulous research and the individual accounts of those who witnessed the events and survived them, the construction of the narrative is based around certain strands that come together to the Velodrome.  We follow Schmuel Weissman (Gad Elmaleh), a noble gentleman who is also a war veteran and is the intelligent one of the group who can speak for everyone with calmness against the Nazis. 

Jean Reno plays Jewish doctor David Schlenbaum, assisted by Protestant nurse Annette (Melanie Laurent), in caring for the 13,000 Jews crammed into the tiny stadium with little water and no food.  The first time we witness the full extent of the horror at the Velodrome we see it through the eyes of Annette - it is played with a choral singing over the wails of people and the noise of masses spilling onto each other.  Part mass crowd, part CGI the sight is horrifying and haunting for the soul.

Cleverly shot are the scenes of the round-up itself, played for naturalism with effective acting and editing, you are left in no doubt at to how unfortunate and frightening it must have been to be evicted from your family home all on account of your ethnicity.

What the film does tell you, and is quite critical of is the French government who allowed the round-up to take place so that the French police could patrol the capital city themselves, in a way they gave up the French Jews and made a deal with the devil.  In that instance, it is surprising that this story has taken so long to reach the screen - perhaps in part due to the delicate satirical nature of the material or maybe in part due to the fact that children were hoarded onto the trains to their deaths along with adults.

When watching the Holocaust films of recent years (The Pianist, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas) you get a sense that maybe the Nazis could have had some humanity, but the detail of killing children also makes it hard to believe.  Another factor may also be the sheer fatalism of such a film, where the ending is pre-determined and no matter how benevolent a nurse is, she alone cannot stop the rampaging tyrannical force of Nazi Germany.

The problem also with Holocaust films is that after Schindler's List, a lot of films pale in significance, whilst this is a fabulous story in need of a larger audience (already more than 3million people in France have seen the film) and the box-office records in France suggest it may travel well; you get a sense that it would be better served in schools as an educational tool.

That is not to discredit the sterling acting from an experienced cast including the stellar child actors, along with the esteemable art direction from Olivier Raoux and costumes by Gilles Bodu-Lemoine; the film works well as both a political comment on a dark moment in French history, and a wonderful production in current French cinema.

The Round-Up (La Rafle) is released on Monday 18th July by Revolver Entertainment on DVD and Blu-Ray

Ghosted - DVD review

Directed by Craig Viveiros, in his first feature production as writer and director, Ghosted is a hard hitting prison set drama featuring an array of British male acting talent.

Jack (John Lynch) is a model prisoner and wants to remain anonymous and keep his nose clean, however, on the anniversary of his son's death Jack is dealt a tragic blow when his wife ends their marriage.  Amongst the prison mayhem, is young Paul (Martin Compston) who is riding with the psychotic 'Baron' Clay (Craig Parkinson).  Feeling parental after losing his son, Jack decides to take Paul under his wing and save him from a life of damage that will happen if Paul stays with Baron.

A tough uncompromising portrayal of prison life featuring some fine performances from a strong ensemble.  Compston, who first came to attention in Ken Loach's Sweet Sixteen has always had a great presence and is slowly growing into a very mature adult performer.  Whilst Parkinson (last seen in Brighton Rock) has a real swaggering menace to him, talking softly with the ability to switch quickly with a look or word.

Whilst the performances are gripping and expected from the cast; the dialogue at times does seem a bit contrived in places - perhaps that is the fault of the generic conventions of prison films.  Good guys look soft in prison compared to the pure evilness of the bad guys, who are in prison for a reason. 

This is not to do Viveiros a total disservice; the photography is a winner picking up all the burden of prison life on the prisoner's faces and the fight scenes do lend themselves a real viscerality in their brutal rendering.

However, with all prison films the ending comes far too soon where we are left with no answers to some questions left hanging in the air.

Ghosted is out in cinemas now and released on DVD on Monday 27th June by Revolver Entertainment for £12.99RRP

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