Empire State

Watched this for the first time last night and was blown away....

Before directors like Tarantino did the whole convoluted stories of multiple characters that all join up trick that became popular in the 90's and still remains a staple of some crime films now, there was this offering from director Ron Peck.

The film is a brilliant snapshot of late 80's London and the stylish portrayal of the club in it really captures the feel of an 80's club.

Now, I'm going to rewatch but first time round the first half didn't do much for me, but when all the characters arrive at the club the film is named after it's just brilliant. The speech the arrogant young gangster who has been taken in by the allure of yuppie culture gives to his old school east end boss in the office is just brilliant and original. In fact there are no cliche's in what transpires at the club and it's sightly art-house cinematography makes it all the more compelling...

I'm curious now as to what other films pre Empire State used the wraparound narrative first, and in this film it's used to great effect.

A film that plays out over the course of a single day and night, following the misadventures of various peoples whose lives are entwined with the titular nightclub. Your enjoyment of EMPIRE STATE will depend on how much you enjoy watching an evocation of '80s-era East End London, seeing as the movie is chock full of dated locales, fashions and dialogue, especially during the latter interludes set within the nightclub itself.

Plot elements are familiar from anyone who's seen the type of gangster flicks favoured by Guy Ritchie; there's drug dealing aplenty, along with gambling and illegal hand-to-hand fights. The film is a thriller and it certainly held my attention throughout, although that was partly due to the expectation of drama that never really arose. British viewers will spend half of the film struggling to remember the name of that actor they recognise from one British TV show or the other. There is also, unusually, a strong homosexual angle to the plot, as most of the main characters seem to be rent boys and even the imported American star (Martin Landau) gets up to some dodgy goings-on in his hotel room. The director, Ron Peck, appears to be an important figure in British gay cinema. This one-of-a-kind movie is understandably obscure by modern standards.

In 1987, America charted the changing face of corporate America with Oliver Stone's Wall Street.

In Britain, Empire State chronicled the transformation of the East End of London. These are two very different movies with contrasting budgets.

This low budget film is filled with future actors for Eastenders. It has a sprawling cast that all meet up in an East End nightclub. Frank (Ray McAnally) is a lowtime gangster who runs the nightclub. Only to find that his lease of the club has been bought out and his boxer's latest fight was nobbled and he lost a lot of money.

Paul (Ian Sears) is the up and coming Yuppie gangster who has some initial backing to develop a housing project. Paul needs the money from Chuck (Martin Landau) an American investor who has flown into to look at the proposals.

In the midst of all this are other characters such as a journalist looking for a missing person who came down to London and disappeared.. A crook with financial issues and under pressure from his girlfriend.

Director Ron Peck is a name familiar in queer British cinema. There is homosexual subtext in this film. Several characters are rent boys or use rent boys. There is even a camp element to the movie.

Empire State is also underdeveloped. You care little about the characters and there is no focussed story. For example Paul has no other investors lined up apart from Chuck. You wonder how he managed to get this far with his plans.

The random shootout at the end is bewildering. A lot of the movie does not make sense.

Empire State was funded by Channel 4 at a time when they released low budget films at regular frequencies. Good news for the British film industry but there was not much quality control. It was as if Channel 4 were hoping that more by luck they will have their next Mona Lisa or My Beautiful Launderette.

Empire State disappeared without trace. Not finding an audience in the cinema, the video rental market or even on television.

Try finding this movie its certainly not easy... This was apparently a 1980s Channel 4 production, it certainly has some of its hallmarks. It is most definitely a London 1980s time capsule of a film. Its hyper-stylised which would probably have given this quite a strong impact when it first came out. While its billed as a gangster movie, it has very little to do with actual gangsters until the final act.

The actual story is split between a number of groups of individuals with a nightclub called the Empire State at the centre of the narrative. A problem with the narrative however is that some of the characters simply seem to exit the movie halfway into the story. The most famous face in the movie could have easily been removed from the story, which would have been welcome as this clocks in at one and three quarter hours. In terms of the main actors, you probably haven't seen any of them before or after this, although a few better known faces do appear in bit parts, recognisable from Eastenders. There is also a nightclub scene and I swear I saw the lead singer from Depeche Mode on the dancefloor.

Its actually difficult to describe the story as there are too many characters in the fray and many of their stories simply do not resolve. The final act however is about a young upstart yuppie trying to challenge his old boss, with an underground MMA style fight which still seems over the top in brutality and gore to this day. That is basically what Channel 4 thought was "edgy" at the time. That and lots of gay content as well as heavily featuring of rent boys, which will no doubt put off a lot of the typical London Gangster Geezer genre fan. I don't think there was any heterosexual sex in the entire movie, I lost count of the gay scenes however and its was in the main pointless. Although one look at the directors other projects may explain why. The screeching Communards style soundtrack isn't exactly easy on the ear either, although I suppose in some circles that was music trendy at the time.

I can certainly see why this sunk without a trace, although it has had a recent digital re-release. You cant really market a London Gangster movie which has the under current of not so much gay sex, but the implication being that gangsters are all either rent boys or use their services, to fans of this genre.

Its best viewed as a snapshot of the 80s London clubbing scene, where dress codes meant suits and shoes, designer drugs like ecstasy had just arrive, acid house was round the corner and yuppies make a financial killing. Hard to recommend other than as a curiosity as its certainly not a decent or satisfying watch.

Richard is a journalist for Metropolis Magazine and attends the opening of the Empire State nightclub redevelopment . Whilst there he meets a teenager from Newcastle who is searching for a friend who worked at the club and who has disappeared in mysterious circumstances . Richard becomes more intrigued as the clientèle at the club may have shady secrets

EMPIRE STATE is a very obscure British thriller . It was shown once on channel four a year after its release . It's one of these productions that Channel four churned out on an almost weekly basis that received a very limited release and the fact that a grand total of two people have commentated on the film on this page speaks volumes as to its obscurity . It's not very difficult to understand why it's obscure

This is a gangster thriller made in Britain and before Guy Ritchie came along very few British gangster films did well unless Michael Caine or Bob Hoskins were cast . This contrasts with American gangster films that followed a formula were a fatherless immigrant takes on the American dream that eventually becomes a a self destructive American nightmare . In other words capitalism has its uses whilst violent exploitation has none . In some ways EMPIRE STATE mirrors this in that the novue riche yuppies rather than violent working class hardmen are the new gangsters . Thatercherism has given a new respectability to crime but this rather underdeveloped

In fact the problem with the film is that the multiple character driven story lines are very much underdeveloped in that characters suddenly disappear and it's noticeable they were only included to set up a plot turn , a plot turn that often frustratingly go nowhere . There's also a strong homosexual subtext to the film which isn't surprising since the director is Ron Peck .Is there anything more clichéd than a gay British gangster ? There's also the terminal fault of a 1980s channel four production and that is that has a very TV type of look despite some graphic violence and bad language . It's a film that never appears truly cinematic

That said if you're able to remember club culture from the 1980s then it's certainly a semi pleasant nostalgia trip. It's very dated of course but for those of us who remember jackets with padded shoulders , big hair, a very expensive drink costing £1.40 and bars surrounded by cigarette smoke then it's a film that brings back guilty memories . There's also a case of spot the TV face before they became well known. But at the end of the day EMPIRE STATE will always be a forgotten gangster thriller from Britain