London Kills Me

I've only seen this movie once, but I was impressed how important a pair of shoes can become. This film lets us view life from a totally different, strange view. A view of life, as a drug addict sees it, but somehow is not really unpleasant. The film has got the same quality as films like "Trainspotting" or books as "Camden Girls": we are able to laugh about things actually being really tragic. What a pity that this film is known to so few people...

as an extra. To be honest I always thought it would be bad - and sure enough - it is. Hanif was pretty well organised on set - but his 2nd Assistant did more. I thought Justin Chadwick was mis-cast. I am in the last scene in the cafe and I am badly cut earlier on - walking past the cafe then suddenly leaping back 10 paces (only I would notice though)

The problem with it is that even with Brad Dourif in it (met him - nice guy) the film has absolutely no international appeal whatsoever. It is so mired in the late eighties - early nineties that is has no universality and the world it portrays - a rather dull UK with a wasted Alun Armstrong as an Elvis impersonator - is completely misleading for any international viewer.

It's interesting that Hanif hasn't flooded the world since with stuff he's directed - no surprise on this evidence - he's a great writer - stick to that.

The £90 I got went on fares and food - shame it didn't put me off a career as an actor - might have stopped me wasting 2 years at drama school!

I'm a big fan of Hanif Kureishi -- I think his screenplays for "My Beautiful Laundrette" and "Sammy and Rosie Get Laid" are brilliant. In both of those movies, the worlds he creates are so complete: friends, families, sex, money, expectations and loss all add up to real people doing interesting things in unique situations. The same goes for the book and miniseries "The Buddha of Suburbia," a great exploration of an extended family in 1970's London.

This movie, however, shoots for the same heights but misses badly. Characters are unlikeable. Situations ridiculous. Language is relentlessly coarse but doesn't further the characterizations. Perhaps the hero's quest for a decent pair of shoes is meant as a parable -- if so, it was a rough little story that didn't teach me anything.

Kureishi's other works remain some of my favorites, but after this movie was over I needed a shower. Looking for a good rental? Try "Sammy and Rosie" or "Laundrette." If you have two or three nights to watch the tape, find a video store with "Buddha."

If I'm to like a movie, I need to care about the lead characters and what happens to them. In this waste-pod of a film, I found myself hoping that they would all die in the end. None of the characters are people that you'd ever want to meet, they all made me sick. If not for a few nude scenes, I would have given this wretched movie a 1.

I rented this movie , just seeing it there on the shelf. I had no idea what to expect. I watched it and thought it was wonderful. Clint is very adorable, very lost, very determined. He is trying to get out and all that matters is his pair of nice shoes. He has transferred all his hopes for a new life and a future outside of drugs in this one very simple thing. Its a beautiful concept. The other characters left me wanting more, but yet being satisfied with that feeling. I was left with the feeling of respect for tiny things that I take for granted sometimes and a great respect for a good pair of shoes or as Clint would say a "cute boot"!