Filhos de Ninguém

This is a really disturbing story. I feel so sad for Enitan, I cannot possibly imagine what he went through in his childhood. His transformation is remarkable. In the final ending it reveals who Enitan is, and I'm shocked by the revelation. It brings the film to another level of emotional climax.

Movies make an impact on the industry and society as a whole because of how they make the audience feel long after the credits roll. The filmmakers take into consideration the totality of the viewer's experience (sights, sounds, emotions, mind). After watching this movie, I felt extremely disturbed with more questions than answers. The audience comes into the movie heavily invested in the story of Enitan and we go through all the heartbreak and humiliation that he experiences. But we don't get to experience the emotional reward of seeing his rehabilitation and moment of self-actualization. It's just presented to us in text towards the end with no explanation of how Ms. Dapo and the others reformed him or what made him come to grips with his identity. This is a serious flaw.

Wally Badger, aka Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, is misleading his intended audience with a view to making a profit. Unbeknown to him, because he failed to do proper research, the Skinhead gang he claims to of belonged to, have been written about many times online and in print. The BBC even recorded a documentary detailing some of their activities. The evidence that suggests his story is pure fantasy, will be damaging to him to say the least.

Suicide Squad's Adewale AkinnuoyeAgbaje turns writer/director to revisit his own youth in a striking if unsophisticated biopic. As a child, Enitan's Nigerian parents have him raised by a white family in '60s London - the 'farming' that the title refers to. As a teen (Damson Idris, compelling), Enitan falls in with a white-supremacist skinhead gang. Yes, really. The shocking true story is undeniably fascinating, but it's underserved by the somewhat unpolished filmmaking; at times the low budget feels all too apparent. Still, Idris shows true potential, and Kate Beckinsale plays pleasingly against type as Enitan's workingclass adoptive mum.

Those negative reviews for this movie are a joke. People need to leave their personal feelings and viewpoints out of it when they are reviewing a movie. And those petty enough to call the director out as a "liar," claiming "this never happened" nonsense is equally ridiculous; it's a movie, created to entertain and or educate. Who cares if it's fact or fiction? The people with this complaint probably believe that Hollywood trash like "Pearl Harbor" is not mostly fiction. On to the technical aspects of this movie, (something that actually matters), "Farming" is a beautifully, artfully shot slice of eye candy, which is ironic considering the grotesquely ugly themes of this difficult movie. Kate Beckinsale is utterly believable as the Cockney speaking Londoner who brings extra cash into the house by raising the Nigerian children left in her care by parents who don't have the means to raise them. Growing up in a completely White surrounding, where most everyone seems to be at least a little racist, and sometimes intensely racist against the people who's skin color is the same as young Enitan, the Nigerian boy, thrust into this alien world where everyone looks different from him. This film is basically about self identity, and how our surroundings and upbringing shape the person we become, and how our minds work. So although Enitan is Black, he grows up like his peers, despising people with black skin. What an insane and unique theme for a film..FINALLY something different. When Enitan joins up with the skinhead gang who had been torturing him, things become quite intense indeed. He calls himself Andy and shaves off his offending afro, so desperate to be among the people he relates to, even as they hate him and abuse him to no end. Movies about skinhead culture are rare, maybe one appears every 10 years or so. This one stands out with the best of them, including "This Is England," "Romper Stomper," and is especially similar in tone to "Made In Britain" with Tim Roth. Also worthy of praise is the acting in "Farming," as everyone turns in intensely believable performances. John Dagleish gives an especially ferocious performance as 'Levi,' the leader of the Tilbury skinheads, and Damson Idris' portrayal of the tortured, self loathing Enitan is brave and faultless. This movie is destined for cult status as it finds it's right audience. Those pathetic 1 star reviews prove that this film reached the wrong audience. Oh well, "Blade Runner" was also a flop when it first came out, so only time will tell. I recommend "Farming" to fans of edgy cinema that doesn't shy away from uncomfortable scenarios, and also to those interested in the Skinhead youth culture of the 70's and 80's. Similar to "The Krays" and "Legend," thankfully this is also a British production, so it manages to avoid the sappy, moralizing and PC garbage that Hollywood feels the need to inject into it's productions.