lukesorba

This low budget, low concept TV series is a fantastic piece of comedy drama whose simple surface conceals some very subtle and truthful observations about adolescence, about girls, about the city, about friendship. It also has two very funny nuns and a rare appearance from the genius that is Gerry Sadowitcz.

But at its centre is Kath, the 14 year old self of actor/director/writer Kathy Burke as a fish out of water, pacing interminably around working class Islington circa 1979. Expertly portrayed, she has both big doubts and big dreams, is both self-effacing and brave. It is also frequently laugh-out-loud funny while always feeling honest at the same time.

There should be more episodes. It should be seen by more people. It deserves an award.

Structurally and thematically similar to Doug Liman's "Go" and of course "Pulp Fiction" - the template to too many multi-stranded, time-hopping urban crime dramas - City State's milieu, a drab Iceland entirely devoid of folkloric landscapes, is more original than the content. It is a tale briskly told, that trades depth for pace, and some suspension of disbelief is required for the plot to convince. However the performances- particularly Zlatko Krickic - do partly compensate for the sketchy nature of the narrative, although both British actors seem even more out of place than their characters. Ultimately the combination of fashionable verite camera-work and grim mise en scene bolted onto contrived story-telling does not quite work and a promising socio-political drama about immigration, crime and authority barely peeps through its gangland mask.