Saxon

After the first few minutes I was very much looking forward to the rest of this film. Unfortunately it failed to deliver. A few bright moments in the script to begin with, but these gradually petered out.

A decent performance from Sarah Matravers, particularly in the early scenes, but she then became woefully under-utilised as the film plodded on.

I don't suppose it should be possible to meander at pace, but this film managed to do just that. We'll have to wait for the next offering to find out if this was due to the direction or the script - it wasn't the acting, which had some merit.

Hugely disappointed

England has council estates, we have housing projects here. Saxon estate makes our projects look like a home in the suburbs. Further, it's being evacuated to make way for a new runway for the airport which borders the estate. Remaining are the die-hards; the people with nowhere to go, the elderly, the forgotten, and the ones who only can dream of leaving but don't know how or have the courage to leave. They can exist in this environment. It's barely inhabited, but what and who remain are daily "trouble." Eddie Pierce was one of those inhabitants, until he got himself sent to prison. And now he's out – so he returns to the only place he knows – Saxon estate. His one friend, Kevin, has won 1 million pounds in a quiz show but has gone missing. Eddie, on the other hand, owes a debt which has grown to an impossible sum, and has little time to settle up. Eddie's only source of repayment will be to find Kevin before time is up. Eddie he offers his services to Kevin's wife for a price – to find Kevin. And so Eddie's return to Saxon begins; Eddie is no private detective. He is an ex-con, and Eddie has his own demons to carry.

Sean Harris and the estate are the stars. Saxon estate is a bad dream turned nightmare. Eddie is quite inept as he begins his return. He is resourceful, but a screw up. He's bad, too open, draws too much attention, and is none too discrete. At every turn, a new evil pops out.

The film is evenly-paced and not a moment is wasted. It is a dark movie, even when filmed in full sunlight. Edgy, gritty and the comedy is dark, subtle humor because Eddie's character is a puzzle and he is desperately following a mystery. But, he needs to survive Saxon as he walks a path toward being its victim -- again.

It's a thriller and a good mystery. Two stories are intertwined – Eddie's own story and his search for his friend. Excellent camera work in true Hitchcockian fashion. Long shots from above and down along the rows of the estate giving the viewer a feeling of being insignificant to the greater dangers that lie ahead (and they are real --- think "Psycho" (Martin Balsam on the stairs) or Cary Grant, "North by Northwest", waiting on the road, alone, by the empty cornfield; you just know trouble is coming). Hitchcock would have loved this film, and the sly tongue in cheek humor.

Also, shot in close up giving Sean Harris the means to act especially when he has little dialogue, because that is what Harris does. He acts. Harris carries this film (his first lead). The irony is that all those who remain are living next to an airport.

Warning: some (lots of) simulated violence. With a quick compliment on the scenes with Eddie's screen mom. They are especially compelling together. With a special applause to the actress that played Mrs. Pierce, Sue Maund.

I had the good fortune of watching this film at a preview screening in London last week. I hadn't heard a lot about the film and neither had most people at the half full cinema. Well more fool the half of the audience who didn't turn up as this was without doubt one of the freshest and funniest feature films to emerge in ages.

Right from the gripping opening sequence, Saxon grabs you by the scruff of the neck and pulls you along for an uproarious ninety minutes. It's difficult to classify the movie, part spaghetti western, part thriller, part dark comedy with a touch of redemption and dash of romance set in a run down estate called Saxon. To it's complete credit it never feels like a mish mash of ideas, in fact the complete opposite. It all works and combines seamlessly to introduce different characters and subtle story lines that all build to an explosive ending.

There are numerous little sight gags and one-liners that had the audience in stitches throughout the film, as well as touching moments that had you really rooting for Eddie, the anti-hero. Sean Harris does an excellent job in the lead role and is supported by a cast that most people will never have seen before but who are all superb, particularly the actor who plays the estate villain. I'd never seen or heard of him before but he certainly made the head bailiff extremely menacing.

It's hard to find fault with the film, even more so when you find out that this film was made on a shoestring budget by a first time feature writer/director. It never feels that way and looks superb. Sure you can see that a few corners have been cut here and there but it never detracts from what is a completely rewarding ninety minutes!

You would be forgiven from reading other reviews of this movie for assuming it is a gritty gangster film set in a gritty London council estate. But if you make the effort to check it out you will be rewarded and surprised as it is really nothing of the sort; it is actually a mish-mash of reverential genre-hopping that adds up to a nice slice of entertainment.

Set almost entirely within the confines of the titular housing estate the plot concerns recent jailbird Fast Eddie (Sean Harris) returning to his familiar stomping ground trying to track down an old pal that has won a large sum on a TV quiz show. Eddie needs money desperately to settle a debt to some nasty characters who have already gouged out one of his eyes and intend to relieve him of the other if he doesn't stump up the moulah quick smart. Unfortunately his pal has disappeared so he enrols as Private Dick for the missing pals wife, offering to find out what has happened in return for a payment that gets him, literally, off the fish-hook.

Nicely paced, the film gives us the pleasure of a slow-reveal, as the various characters we meet, who seem random at first, eventually form part of a jigsaw that fills in all the gaps and lead us to a satisfying conclusion. Along this journey we are treated to all manner of movie conceit as a relatively simple idea plays out in a stylish manner that belies it's zero budget and manages to pay homage to the movies in a way that only a director who still feels the thrill of the big screen could manage to do.

We get more than our fair share of Kubrick, especially The Shining; a cute dose of Leone; a sprinkling of David Lynch and, very surprising in a small independent BritFlick, what seems like Wong Kar Wei. It is actually a film for those that like film and some viewers may find it a little pretentious at times but there is enough tension and black humour to sustain most and the cast manage to hold back on the histrionics despite the script giving them plenty of scope to go berserk. Harris is particularly good at this, hesitant and reserved in his delivery he just about gets our sympathy even though Eddie is as much a ne'er do well as most of the inhabitants of this very separate universe. Of course, the other star is the estate itself, more malevolent in the bright sunshine than it has a right to be; this is a directorial gamble that pays off very nicely. With the exception of a scene involving a lift you don't get a real feeling of palpable dread at any time, mainly because the characters are mostly bonkers - but you do really, really want to know what happens.

Saxon could possibly have been a little more compact and some scenes are merely there for fun, but it is a good idea, very nicely shot, well acted and when you think of the tripe that gets cash thrown at it, even in the independent world, you wish Loftin the best of luck to get more films made of this nature. Sassy, flawed but ultimately satisfying the best thing you can say is that it is fine entertainment and well worth the price of admission.

The Saxons were famous for North Sea piracy. In the 5th Century, there was an area of England known as 'litora Saxonica', owing either to the liability to Saxon attack or, as some think, the establishment of Saxon colonies there.

Saxon is also the name of a grim, modern-day council estate in London. A place where people are under constant threat from brutal bailiffs.

Fast Eddie just wants to get away. To Spain, preferably. But fresh out of the nick for killing a bailiff, trouble seems to follow him. Like the £500 he borrowed before going inside. It's now turned into £10,000. Loan shark Sammy removes one of Eddie's eyes. Just to keep things running smoothly. Now Eddie looks a bit of a prat with a bandage over one eye. Linda, an old sweetheart, wants nothing to do with him. But she needs a favour a too. So Eddie gets hired as her private detective to track down missing millionaire husband Kevin. A job that soon gets him into even more bother.

Saxon erupts onto the screen and it takes a little longer than usual to get comfy again in your seat. Is it a thriller? A comedy? A violent slice-of-life soap? Or a western, a fantasy-adventure, transported to an unlikely setting? Nothing seems to fit. Eddie has the air of a Don Quixote. He hasn't had the time to find his feet before trouble finds him. He tramps about uneasily. By turns, an object of fear and ridicule.

With such uncertain genre signals, one of the difficulties with Saxon is believing in the characters. They seem reality-challenged without being fully surreal. High production values could bring off such an uneasy marriage in O Brother Where Art Thou, but I felt Saxon expected a lot of me to suspend disbelief in the face of such uneven characterisation. There are moments of touching brilliance, such as when Eddie and his mother meet up. In the dark, she doesn't recognise him. She calls out her services of the night - before they come face to face in mutual pain and embarrassment. At other times we have to give it a big benefit of the doubt to avoid the feeling that we are watching acting-by-numbers.

What is so sad is that there are so many dazzling ideas here, so much talent that simply hasn't been polished into a sufficiently finished end-product. The film's website describes it as made with "hope, love, half a shoestring & private equity." Actors have received minimal fees and deferred payment.

Eddie is remarkably elevated to a protagonist of almost mythical qualities by the end of the film. Greg Loftin (who debuts as director, writer, executive producer, editor, and casting director) accomplishes a supreme feat of pulling his many larger-than-life characters together in a clever and strangely satisfying finale. His first feature is an undoubted accomplishment. People have worked very hard to get it to the point where it has been nominated for the Edinburgh International Film Festival Michael Powell Award. The best reason to see it might be to witness such raw talent rearing its head on a non-existent budget. But it might also leave audiences feeling they have paid to see a stupendous student-level film rather than a movie worthy of mainstream release.

As with any review, the opinion is only that of one reviewer. Saxon's quirkiness may hit you like a breath of fresh air, its originality enliven a jaded palate or two, or it might prove me wrong and win the Michael Powell. Or maybe I'm right and, in spite of the undeveloped qualities hiding beneath the surface, Saxon remains a missable low-brainer.