Ill Manors

A surprisingly well made film. The rapping narration adds an original edge to the movie. Compared to 'adulthood.' there is a lack of humor in this one. there is a darkness to each subplot. and as the film develops the moral depth increases. One one level there is the satanic message of 'vengeance is the original sin,' and the film does its best to deliver this to the viewer amidst urban blood-lust. There are a couple of references in camera-work to the Texas chainsaw massacre and taxi driver. the pacing is similar to harry brown. but without the chess like strategy. instead everything falls together like a stream of karma. where harry brown nods to the stephen Lawrence case,ill manors goes more into people trafficking.in this way it shares the vemon of ' taken.' some scenes take a culture of 'meatholes.' and 'heavy-r' and give you a side step view into this disease of female exploitation. it is done in a realistic yet artistic way. with a cultural hint of the terrible crimes towards young girls in the north of england earlier this year.

compared to eight mile this film has the same 'hip -hop.' street vibe, but this being a UK film , everything takes a more claustrophobic eeriness. with some of the footage shot on mobile phones, as a viewer i was left thinking of the similarity to cannibal holocaust in the point of view direction in parts of the movie. ill manors-a document on current the social structure of the western world and the dog eat dog mentality the fuels it.

as ben drew goes into the world of advertising i would recommend this film.as it is not a particularly marketable piece of art. and for that i respect it..

Saw this the other week at the cinema. Watch a film. Although this type of film has been done before with the likes of 'Kidulthood' and so on, but the material has never been fresher. I'm not Plan B's biggest fan music wise. I think he's very talented and my girl loves him, but I'm more into my underground grime rather than commercial. I did, however, think he did a good job in 'Adulthood' and 'Harry Brown' so I'm guessing I'm more into his acting than his music. And I'm hoping to see a lot more after this. It's the story of different characters who connect in some way or another. Each story filled with tragedy and each character dealing with issues. Plan's B's singing narration before each story is brilliant. This won't be for everyone. There's crackheads, prostitution, pedophiles, drugs and violence but there's also an incredible empathy for even the most horrible characters. There's also some good humour too. The acting's fantastic. With some faces you know and some you don't, each performance is bang on. Overall a deep, very well made film with terrific performances and a truly original style. ****/*****

Considering that a year ago I had never listened to a Ben Drew (Plan B) track, dismissing him out of hand as yet another rap/hiphop wannabe, and today regarding him as a genuine multi-talented prodigy is an honest tribute to his unbelievably versatile creativity.

Due in part to the perfect format of a rap narration, in part to the fact that this is a man with his finger FIRMLY on the pulse of a disaffected sector of society and in part to the unforgiving art and poetry of the writing, direction and art direction, I feel that this is a modern masterpiece.

Consider again that this is a directorial debut and was achieved on a budget of merely £100,000, it's almost genius.

John Cooper Clarke, rather surprisingly for me, adds the perfect complementary poetic touch; I had forgotten quite how uncompromising and bleak his words can be.

Reminiscent of Clockwork Orange in its brutal beauty,the story is realistic to the immorality and just plain incomprehension of the consequences within an "underclass" subculture, yet the characters are so finely drawn and portrayed that you feel not only sympathy, but you feel a part of their hopelessness and helplessness.

There was one scene I couldn't watch (no spoilers); watching with my 19 y o daughter, she remarked that it was the first time in a long time that a film had affected her emotionally. She is braver than me for doing so...as it is impossible to un-see anything, so I could not bring myself to watch.

Absolutely beautiful, sad, horrifying and harrowing. Ben Drew, I take my hat off to you and can't wait for the next thing to come out of your remarkable mind.

Plan B is clearly not content with just being a famous rapper/singer/actor, as he has now tried his hand at directing, with his debut film ill Manors being released in cinemas today. Set in East London, the film follows a series of characters from drug dealers to prostitutes to runaway single mothers as they all struggle to survive in their poverty stricken area. As you can guess, this is not a happy-go- lucky sort of film, but nevertheless it's a very good film.

The style taken is very much similar to Pulp Fiction (believe it or not), as each character gets their own little tale, and soon enough they begin to over-lap with one another, creating a sense of community, we see that everybody really does know each other, whether for good or bad. There is also a rapping narrator (played by Plan B himself) which really adds another dimension to the film, it sets itself apart from the usual ''urban drama'' with these little techniques. It's a very brutal film that doesn't hold back either, from violent murders to a woman being pimped out for £10 at a kebab shop, we see it all within 121 mins.

Whilst it is an ''urban'' drama at the end of the day, the film does what Kidulthood/Adulthood/Shank could not do and has a go at actually trying to explore the reasons behind why people join gangs or decide to riddle their body with heroin. None of the central characters have parents, and the film suggests this lack of love creates the violence, it's essentially a film encouraging us to hug a hoodie. Outstanding performance goes to Riz Ahmed, who plays a gangster with some moral fibre trying to get out the area. The only negative is that the film tries to tell us too much, there's so many characters and stories happening that it's hard to keep track and some character get lost in the shuffle. But overall, recommended.

7/10

Listen to the narrator's warning at the opening of the film, because a rough and dangerous ride follows as the film unfolds.

The only reason that I'm able to write a coherent review of the film is because some, but not all, of the subject matter is entirely foreign to me and to most of the people who have been around me for most of my long, adult life.

The narration is in a foreign language (hip-hop) that I never learned at school, but I'm a quick learner. If you aren't - it'll be hard to work out what's going on in the confused and disjointed lives that confront you - but persevere.. because it will make sense - eventually. Learn the language of the narrator, because he's explaining what's happening as we shift back and forth in time.

Writer and Director Ben Drew / Plan B presents a shockingly realistic portrayal and insight into the hapless lives of the damaged individuals that we get to know in the course of the story.

If society, as a whole, has not got the message that comes out loud and clear from the film, it's 'Keep drugs, fireworks, sharp instruments and unloving care-takers away from young children - if you want a happy ending in the longer term'.

This film charts the everyday outcomes which follow early exposure to forbidden fruit and the inability of people to recover from exposure, later on in life - whether due to premature death or permanent, irreversible psycholgical damage. All the way through it's a long catalogue of unhappy endings without any hope of remission.

An old story, well-told; dressed up in the newest generation's clothes, sex, drugs and rock and roll.