A Guerra dos Outros

I went to the theatre cold, had heard nothing about Beautiful People beyond its title. I was fairly unimpressed with the first part of the movie; the opening scenes from the tussle of the bus were elegaically constructed and did serve as the 'running' commentary for the film, but other scenes were set up quite stodgily: the Conservative family with the renegade child (I did enjoy the element of class consciousness in the hospital scene where she hesitantly asks for help from the nurses); the father stuck with the kids when their mother leaves (because he's such a prat?); the artistic and neglectful mother... the stuff of many British films and almost every Sunday night teleplay. What lifts Beautiful People is its awareness, and consequent subversion, of this predictable British fare. From the second the skinhead wanders in a fairytale-like trance into a trolley of supplies destined for Bosnia, the film busts the genre wide open. This happenning gives the film permission to explore the stories to their possible happy resolutions. If only a racist skinhead could get his face pushed into the lives some of those he ignorantly attacks! The scene at the end, where the racists are reading a bedtime fairy story to the blinded Bosnian child is our cue that this part of the film has, indeed, been nothing more than a fairytale. All fairytales are a gory story with a moral twist from which children learn how life is. And so with the intent of this film. The daughter of a Conservative minister would never marry a refugee so he could stay in the country, and the family would certainly not accept such a marriage - think of the scandal! Yet, once the barrier of British realism has been rent asunder by the skinhead's fall into Bosnia (not quite Wonderland!), this becomes possible. The realism remained with the war scenes, and I think these are what we are supposed to have lodged in our minds when we leave the theatre. I can't imagine the real Bosnia was much different to this. The final message I took from the film is: if you had experienced it, then you would be craving for happy endings too. I liked it. I forgot how lumbering the first part of the film was once the filmmaker gave herself permission to dispense with realism. I left the theatre thinking very deeply about the conflict in Bosnia; which was as it should be.

This film highlights some of the problems faced by former Yugoslav refugees trying to start a new life in Britain. There are some light hearted moments like when a Serb and a Croat who were neighbours in their former homeland fight with each other and end up next to each other in the hospital (highlighting the basis of the Yugoslav war). Some of the more common refugee problems are also highlighted (you'd have to watch to find out). There is hardly any intensity in the movie but the story is still rather well told.

I love British movies - most of them, at least - and this one was no exception. It was on late night TV, and the mention of Charlotte Coleman's name amongst the cast convinced me to stay up to watch it. Most everything which could be said about it has been said.

For me, it left me with a lot to think about. It was not a stab at realism, but had a strong impact all the same. I quite enjoyed the somewhat chaotic, circular storytelling style, as the viewer is reacquainted again and again with some characters, as they stumble through their lives.

My favourite set-up was the hospital bed companion of the Serb and Croat - himself a Welshman who hates the English, and is in hospital having been blown up with an incendiary device he was buying - to blow up English property, no doubt. He's forever trying to stop the Serb and Croat from killing one another, completely oblivious that his own blind prejudice - whilst justifiable - is destructive, and mirrors their own.

A must-see for fans of British film.

Beautiful People is an easy watch jet black comedy.Heroin addiction and extreme racism are given an improbable humorous edge in a way that you don't expect. The film has some startling switches in it. My only criticism would be that the scene explaining the psychiatrist's diagnosis of Bosnia Syndrome should have come earlier on to help explain to viewers the odd actions of the actors.

Notwithstanding that it is a great film. Bonus points if you can pick out the scenes that were shot in Liverpool instead of London and watch out for handy hints on how to peg out washing with a head full of heroin !

Cllr Tim O'Kane

"Beautiful People" spreads it's story of the effect of the Bosnian conflict on Brits and others thinly over a broad and varied cast of characters with the feel of a documentary in spite of considerable implausibility. Mostly shot in the UK sans any Hollywoodesque appointments, this film weaves several very short and loosely interconnected stories into it's sometimes harsh, sometimes humorous fabric. "Beautiful People" - which are scarce in this austere film - leaves little room for audience empathy but is replete with ironies. The film will play best with those who appreciate British cinema.