Kidulthood

Good movie and a pretty good insight in to what growing up in todays society is really like, for far more teenagers than many people think. It demonstrated what growing up is really like for teenagers growing up on council estates in every major city in the UK as well as many other towns alike. Many people who do not intermingle in such areas would not believe this to be a common occurrence and would consider this as anything more than an exaggerated view of the youth of today.

However, I believe this to be a very true to life film, well directed, great screenplay, with a suitable sound track and quite impressive acting from a young cast. It's a bit unfortunate that not many of these types of British films get the recognition they deserve sometimes.

Kidulthood is an energetic snap shot of wasted youth in London that's flawed, but definitely interesting.

For the most part, the young cast (except for a very hammy jamie winstone) give strong, naturalistic performances-particularly noel clarke whos shocking turn as the local badman sam, will instantly make you forget clarkes "oafish boyfriend" routine on doctor who. What gives the performances a higher level of authenticity is the slang and profanity heavy dialogue that serves as an accurate representation of how the kids talk these days (you don't know how old i feel writing that!).

However the films mission to keep things as raw and gritty as possible ends up as its down fall- the script tries so hard to make the kids seem so reckless and hedonistic that the trouble they get into just gets unrealistic and shocking for the sake of being shocking after a while. Also, the story is very predictable- you will know how this one turns out , not even halfway through its running time .

Kidulthood doesn't come close to being as good as the likes of city of god or La haine, but its a well acted drama that I have to commend for trying to show a side of London that many other local films choose to ignore.

STAR RATING: ***** The Works **** Just Misses the Mark *** That Little Bit In Between ** Lagging Behind * The Pits

When a girl who has suffered horrific bullying at school commits suicide, it leaves 15 year old Trife (Aml Ameen) and his two friends with the day off school. Trife starts the day by learning the unwanted news that his on-off girlfriend is pregnant and the baby might be his. Frustrated at hearing this, he sets off with his friends and embarks on a day of increasingly dangerous mischief. Juxtaposed with their story is that of his girlfriend, her qualms about keeping her baby and her moral free mate willing to do anything to score money and drugs. Their paths are set to collide and result in a devastating climax.

Kidulthood has that look and feel of a film out to shock (it managed a 15 certificate, but it must have only just scraped it!) If it's painting a picture of what life is really like for chavvy kids like this living on housing estates in inner-city areas, then the film manages to leave an even more downbeat and depressing taste in the mouth than it already did. It's well-acted enough, with a good lead in Ameen (who I recognized as Officer Lewis from The Bill-wouldn't have thought he'd come off as a 15 year old though) and a decent supporting cast, including an attractive presence in Madeleine Fairley (but, what can I say, a chavette's a chavvete!) It has a fine soundtrack, too, including some notable work from Mike Skinner and The Streets. It's far from a bad film, as it is, too, it's just so relentlessly bleak and with little in the way of humour and light that it never manages to come off as a truly enjoyable experience in any way. Still, it delivers what it says and more. ****

Firstly, I believe the low rating is unjustified, yet explicable because unless one has had any exposure to the kind of "feral" inner city youths depicted in this movie, then it would at times be next to impossible to understand: Over 95% of those in this movie speak the most uncultured form of English known as "Chav-speak". Even if one watched the movie with subtitles, much of what is said would be indiscernible to those outside the UK; or, dare I say, to those who are too educated to understand how society's lowliest communicate.

Thus, I firmly believe that this movie has been unjustly rated simply because US (& other)viewers could not understand much of the dialogue; and absolutely no concession has been made to simplify verbal exchanges to aid that matter. Nor should it have! That is to say, Kidulthood's writer has skilfully written a tale which is chillingly close to the bone, and every nuance perfectly reflects the gutter English which a growing underclass now understand each other by.

There are no heroes in this movie. And if you need happy endings or reasons why seemingly senseless actions happen - then look elsewhere. No character is particularly likable. And each does their best to be tougher than the next. For that is the only way to survive in such a hostile urban dystopia (which also happens to be modern Britain for many of the under-classes). The 'weak', we soon learn, have little chance of escape. For, in a culture of 'wayward misfits', the most wayward is the most different - the one who is too human and too sensitive.

Those viewers who'll have any chance of understanding the discourse, will also discover a totally amoral tale full of profoundly heartless, dislikeable, occasionally dangerous and fatally deprived youths whose future is so barren that they unwittingly must choose to churn every moment of the present into a wild ride to ultimately nowhere.

7/10. (for a disturbingly accurate, no holds barred, statement on the collapse of urban 'civilisation' as we know it. But... please don't expect to 'enjoy' this movie.)

As a black girl living in London, I saw how this film portrayed real life. In the scenes at the beginning, in the school, I could relate fully to the events. People may not think that it truly represents black people, or schools in London, I beg to differ. You obviously have not been in a bad enough school. The language used in the film, the slang, is a part of life now. I look at schools on the telly and wish that I do not have to call everyone 'blud'. If I do not, I will get beaten up for 'trying to be white'. Kidulthood was a fantastic film, showing, yes, a different way of life, but a true representation of it. It was actually quite unnerving at how similar life is for my community to that of the film.