Love + Hate

About time i watched one of those films that real does move you. Having spent some years in that "world" i can definitely see the problems and issues that unfortunately can still arise in todays society. Although sometimes quite upsetting that this sort of attitude behavior still occurs in the modern world of 2006, this turns into a a real 'feel good' film, with plenty of morals + some fantastic music which suits the scenes perfectly. It grabbed me in the first few minutes. I did wonder if people would enjoy this film who hadn't lived in Northern England at first, but the direction, story line and acting make it all the more pleasurable.

To judge by the comments here, it's one of those films you indeed either love or hate. I loved it; to me, coming from the north of England, the characters and dialogue were utterly convincing and compelling. (Maybe because the decent, fair-minded chap who ran the wallpaper shop reminded me of my Dad... unfortunately some of the other characters, with their odious and ignorant views, I recognised too.)

To me, the only problem was the over-reliance on coincidences (oh, so Greek drama). But I liked the fact that many of the expected clichés were avoided.

So, Hollywood it ain't. If you like your films smartly scripted and smoothly acted, you may well hate the Loach-style rough edges.

But for me, this raw and bluntly honest film was one of the most powerful pieces of cinema of the year. And, actually, excellently acted. Throughout I kept saying, that's what it's like. That's just what they do. That's exactly what they say. And, by gosh, I wish it wasn't.

For me love+Hate is one of the best films i've seen in the last five years. It was my best film of 2006.The main reason i love this film is the realism of it. It deals with issues. Mainly the film is about racism, and what it does to people who use it to control their life. The story is about a young girl who goes to work in a DIY shop and meets a young boy who takes an instant dislike to her. Eventually he realises that he loves her and is torn between what his friends and family might think,and his true feelings. There are other stories but i wouldn't want to ruin it for anyone. The film is brilliant in all the key areas. The acting is superb by everyone. The script is just as brilliant. The music is excellent and provides a real essence to the story being told. The direction is very good. Everything is really superb. It will not be a film to everyones taste but it is thought provoking and original in the way only great films are.

A terrific debut from Dominic Savage, this gritty drama set in North England deals with racism and love, lust and hate. The beautiful Samina Awan plays 17-year-old Pakistan girl Naseema who starts working at a lonely wallpaper shop and quickly falls for Adam (Tom Hudso), a racist who finds himself conflicted, especially in contrast to his racist, binge drinking friends and older brother.

There are other characters involved and sometimes the supporting characters (Naseema's friend going out with her brother, whose own work college is the girl's father) hog a bit of the screen, but the central love story is compelling enough and very satisfying.

It is flawed, and the ending can't decide if it's feel-good or feel-bad, but the story resonates powerfully, even if the accents don't.

The dialog delivery was awkward and unnatural. I get the feeling that they were trying to make it sound more "natural" with the actors stepping on each other's lines, but it just sounds like they don't know their parts so well. It could just be bad acting. Maybe the actors were attempting to ad-lib. I don't know.

The writer has low expectations for the audience's understanding and feels he has to spell everything out in the dialog. The racist kids walks out of the back room, it's pretty obvious that it's because he doesn't like the new Muslim girl. The Muslim girl says "Why did he just leave like that without saying anything?". Duh.

And I can't understand most of what the two chav prostitutes are saying. That's what you are, by the way, when you get all dressed up to sit by the side of the road waiting to get picked up for sex with random guys in their cars. A hooker.

It's not a terrible film, but it's not exactly an original story either.