A Way of Life

A Way of Life is an extraordinary and disturbing film.It seems scarcely credible that the director is making her debut and the performances of the largely unknown cast so powerful and totally convincing.I would feel confident in asserting,for example, that the performance of Stephanie James in the central role of Leigh-Anne will stand comparison with those who will be honoured at the Oscar ceremony next month.Her portrayal of an attractive and intelligent young woman smouldering with racial hatred and frustration is one that will live in the memory .It is a film that gets under your skin and forces you to ask yourself some fundamental questions.How did these young people get to be the way they are? Is the connection between poverty and deprivation on the one hand and violence and cruelty on the other too facile,although it should be said that the film itself makes no such facile connection.The whole thing is unsettling and uncomfortable and you cannot take your eyes from the unfolding tragedy. By chance I had seen Clint Eastwood's accomplished Million Dollar Baby a couple of days before.Of the latter The Guardian's film critic,Peter Bradshaw, rightly remarked that,three-quarters of the way through, it delivers to the audience a right hook like Jack Dempsey.A Way of Life delivers a barrage of right and left hooks that leave one bruised and soul-searching as one emerges from the cinema.

This film certainly had a lot of potential. The film certainly pulls no punches when it comes to portraying the main characters. We are shown their violence, racism and bigotry in depth. Not that they are averse to exploiting their own, as several episodes show.

Whilst the main characters certainly have many unsavoury characteristics the film does allow time to explore what made them what they are. Many factors are highlighted, lack of stable partnerships, low self-esteem, lack of commitment, lack of parenting skills, drugs, unstable violent backgrounds, unemployment, discrimination and lack of opportunities.

My main criticism of the film is not that it isn't well researched. The problem is in the production. The direction is so leaden and obvious. The characters have no space to develop and the director rams their points into your face. You could almost imagine that this was produced as a course material for a school sociology program.

The camera-work and sound tract only reinforce this. The angles and shots are all so daytime TV, zooming into faces for close ups in those confrontation moments, giving the obligatory 2 second scenic scene setting shots at all the appropriate moments. Need I say that the soundtrack is hardly subtly or seamlessly enmeshed.

All in all whilst this film has good intentions, good material and some good acting the whole thing feels poorly put together and ends up loosing a lot of its impact between the cracks in the production.

Makes some trenchant and powerful points about racism, and the way the poor are often turned against each other. Nicely shot, and mostly well acted.

That said, it's become a fairly familiar story, and this reminded me of a lot of other films.

Also, as good as the performances often were, I kept being naggingly aware I was watching actors doing a very good job 'acting like' poor, uneducated people. Especially with the young lead, -- I felt just the slightest hint she was playing 'down' to her character.

I did appreciate the lack of softening the edges of these characters to make them 'likable'.

I'll still take this kind of socially aware, intense film over 99% of what's out there, even with any flaws.

The tag line for this film is "In real life there are no happy endings" but to be honest you don't need to wait till the end of the film to find a lack of happiness because it is all through this story. In a coastal Welsh town, Leigh-Anne lives below the poverty line with her new baby. Her "partner" is around but not contributing and her day-to-day life involves hanging around with her equally jobless friends and trying to get enough money to afford the basics. As she hangs round with her friends, her frustration at her situation spills over into hatred and aggression at those around her.

I'm not quite sure what she is doing now but when this film came out a few years ago Amma Asante was hailed as part of a new wave of British talent. Eventually getting to see this film for myself I can understand why because it is an excellent piece of work with only a few weaknesses that bugged me. The plot does have a narrative flow but ultimately it is about the characters and, as such it is a convincing and engaging film because the characters are very well written. It is not a happy watch of course because it does pain a depressing picture of those on the lowest rungs of society – full of anger looking for an outlet and frustrated to the point where they seem unable to even aspire to more than their lot. It is very convincing for the most part although at times some of the touches or detail did have the ring of "film reality" rather than reality because although Asante does seem to understand her characters, she does occasionally give them moments of self-awareness that I wasn't convinced by.

As director she is also good but with a few issues. The opening beating is intense for one example – the camera gliding round the library was also well done and increased the tension later in the film. Outside of moments like these, the direction is still very good, with strong cinematography but ye intimately shot. I wasn't sure about the score though. I've nothing against the use of David Gray because it did work quite well at times but it was rather overused I thought. Asante's direction of her cast is good and she is rewarded by good performances. James is excellent in the lead and makes a very convincing character. Her self-pity is there but she keeps it from being useful and instead did a good job of showing her frustrations at her self being turned outwards. To me she is the film and again it is impressive that she carries it so well. Support is good from the rest of the cast though, all of whom fit into this world convincingly with turns from Haden, Wong, Sheppeard, Gregory and Blethyn (who's character may not be big but I suspect she was important in regards funding and distribution, so credit to her for that support).

Overall then a very strong and engaging film. It is not cheerful and it is not perfect but Asante's writing shows she understands her characters and can translate that into words and actions that mostly ring true. As director she produces some great shots but also creates an intimacy without losing the effect of being cinematic. A very good British film that deserves an audience bigger than it has so far been given.

Saw this film on BBC2 late last night, and found it eminently watchable.The only obvious weak point for me was the casting of Brenda Blethyn-why oh why? I know what hits home for me, but do not fully understand the harsh criticisms of many. I wish I could understand these better, and I welcome a flood of response as to why this film does not hit the mark. It seemed to for me. Yes, I am a member of the middle classes, so I no doubt am out of touch with the realities of day to day life. I am admittedly quite ignorant of points of style etc...-so please , detractors, further explain in detail where this film falls short.It seems to me that the lack of redeeming features, and one dimensional aspect of the characters is a strength.I am all for somebody who follows Hamlet's advice to 'Hold the mirror up to nature.'Let there be more portrayal of things that are bleak.