rancid_man85

Philistines beware, especially American ones! This has all the elements you'll hate - a langorous approach to film language, a painterly sense of composition, an intense homoerotic focus to its elegant narrative, a wonderful and unusual use of music and, even worse, it's based on a story you'd probably hate as well... If, however, you do feel that films don't to have derivative plotlines, be full of action and crappy dialogue, don't need the visual grammar of MTV/TV Commercials, then watch this. It's one of my favourite films, and is perhaps Visconti's most perfectly formed piece of work. It's sublime, like the movement of Mahler he uses insistently throughout the film.

That last comment was unfair. The sex wasn't gratuitous, and whoever thinks that is clearly an ignorant prude. Ewan is fine, though a little bit of a poser these days. However, the script lacks some kind of purpose and the whole barge conceit is a bit silly. If the film had tried to be less BBC and more European in charcter it might have worked better - in short, the mis-en-scene is very TV. Somehow reminds me of a toned down version of "Trouble Every Day" by Clair Denis. Not bad, but could do better - a tentative step in the right direction for independent British cinema.

This film is an utterly naive, incompetent attempt to explore racial issues in the area I live. God, it sucks.. the acting and dialogue are so full of obvious, wooden and preachy, that it leaves you wondering it is was written for an audience of social workers and equal opportunity officers in Southwark. It lacks charm, subtelty and is even quite racist itself in its heavy-handed criticism of the local police. Frankly, it en"rage"ed me!