Les Poings contre les murs

The prison sub-genre has produced many great films over the years, giving us the likes of The Shawshank Redemption, Hunger and Escape from Alcatraz. The critically acclaimed British movie Starred Up from Perfect Sense director David Mackenzie hopes to join their ranks.

Eric Love (Jack O'Connell) is a 19-year-old sent to adult prison two years early because he is known as 'starred up', a very violent offender. On his first day in prison, Eric manages to make a weapon, knocks out a fellow prisoner which causes a lock-down and fights the prison guards leading to him biting one of them in the testicles. Despite his violent behaviour, a prison volunteer, Oliver (Rupert Friend) offers to have Eric in his anger management group and help him change his behaviour. Nev (Ben Mendelsohn), Eric's father and fellow prisoner is forced to try and take his son under his wing, partly to protect him being killed by the crime boss of the prison, Spencer (Peter Ferdinando), because lock-downs disrupt business. But as Eric starts to manage his anger, he finds mentors from other prisoners, putting his father out of place as he tries to be the man he is meant to be.

Starred Up is a harsh look at the British prison system and tells an unconventional father and son relationship. Mackenzie uses hand-held cinematography, using sequences that are long takes and gives Starred Up a fly-on-the-wall feel, whether it was following Eric in the prison or simply watching Eric grow in the group sessions and control his anger. Mackenzie shows the violence as prisoners fight, stab and make weapons. He gives us some strong fighting sequences, such as Eric's first fight and a fight in a shower. There are plenty of elements that would remind people of other prison movies like Scum, A Prophet and Bronson, sharing visual cues when the camera follows Eric, makes his weapon and how he prepares for fights.

At times, Starred Up plays a little like a British version of the excellent HBO show Oz, taking a look at various factions in the prison. There are various criminal forces with their own angles, the personal vendettas between the prisoners and internal politics between prisoners and within the prison staff. There are debates within the prison staff, as they decide what is the best course with dealing with Eric. Oliver is made out to be a hopeful man who actually wants to reform prisoners, give them hope and elaborates on what is the point of prison, rehabilitation or punishment? This is an issue that has been debated in Britain since the end of the 18th century.

A key part of Starred Up is the relationship between Eric and Nev, both excellently played by O'Connell and Mendelsohn as they learn to actually become father and son. Nev has only one setting when dealing with Eric, aggression and shouting, believing he needs to be tough with Eric to get the message across. Yet, Nev states that Eric has a chance of getting released from prison and should play the system, just so he can get out. In prison, Eric finds other mentors in the form of Oliver and two other prisoners, Tyrone (David Ajala) and Hassan (Anthony Welsh) who wishes to usurp Nev's role.

Eric gets glimpses at what could be his future could be because of the different prisoners he is with. He could end up like his father, a violent lifer, a leading crime lord in prison or be like Tyrone (David Ajala) and Hassan (Anthony Welsh) and actually turn his life around.

Starred Up is a very macho film, filled with fighting, violence, male posturing and liberal uses of the f and c words as Mackenzie shows this very brutal, violent world. The only prominent female character is one of the Governors played by Sian Breckin and she is only a small role who appears in a few scenes. The female prison guards that appear in the movie are really speaking extras.

Mackenzie has shown himself to be a director who can get strong performances from his actors, such in his previous movie Perfect Sense. He again provides a strong work, through his hiring of a strong cast of respected actors. O'Connell gives a deliberately ambiguous performance as he is hard to read: he is a character that is anti-authority and willing to use his fists: but has some morals and ethics even in prison. Friend is very good in his role as Oliver, but he is made out to be a very nervous and timid character and even though he is a good natured character those traits for someone working with violent offenders.

Starred Up keeps to a British tradition of violent, kitchen sink realism, while the writer Jonathan Asser wants to tell a personal story. It is a brutal movie that makes sure that prison is a terrifying environment and fans of Scum and Oz should enjoy Starred Up.

Please visit www.entertainmentfuse.com

The unsociable and brutal nineteen year old Eric Love (Jack O'Connell) is transferred from an young offender institution to an adult prison because of his violence. On the arrival, the voluntary therapist Oliver Baumer (Rupert Friend) invites Eric to participate in his group of therapy. However Eric meets his missing father Neville Love (Ben Mendelsohn) that is the henchman of the prison leader Dennis Spencer (Peter Ferdinando). Neville tries to control Eric and affects his participation in the therapy. Meanwhile the Deputy Governor Hayes (Sam Spruell) does not believe in Baumer's treatment and gives one chance only to Eric to improve his behavior.

The title "Starred Up", for people not native in English like me, describes the early transfer of a criminal from a young offender institution to an adult prison. The story is written by Jonathan Asser and is based on his experiences working as voluntary therapist at the largest adult prison in the UK in South West London in England. The plot follows the teenager Eric Love and is cruel and realistic, and may be consider a sociological study. The direction and performances are impressive, giving the sensation of a documentary and with no corny redemption. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Encarcerados" ("Imprisoned")

Jack O'Connell is brilliant as our uncompromising lead. The writing is terrific and the acting from all involved is great.

"Starred Up means you're leader."

Starred Up is unquestionably the best UK film of the year. It's no surprise because the best prison dramas that have come out over recent years come from Europe (think Bronson, Hunger, and A Prophet). What surprised me the most about Starred Up is that the humanity of these prisoners is never lost. These are guys who do questionable things and constantly have anger issues, but somehow as an audience we are still drawn to them and care for them. It isn't something easy to achieve but thanks to David Mackenzie's solid direction and Jonathan Asser's brilliant and realistic script we get an authentic prison drama with characters we can engage with and are worth investing in. Asser actually based the script on his personal experience when he worked as a voluntary therapist at a prison. It really comes through in the script because you have a sense that he sees these prisoners as actual human beings and not just stereotypical prisoners which we sometimes get from movies. He raises some important issues that most prison movies fail to do so and which concern him. There are two ways we can view prisons: as a place where we can set apart the criminals and keep them away from society or as a place where we send these criminals to be rehabilitated. He firmly believes in the second cause and that is why he includes a voluntary therapist in this film that is trying to rehabilitate some of these prisoners. These are issues that aren't usually raised in films of this genre, but through this authentic portrayal of life behind bars we get a sense of it. That is why Asser is so concerned with humanizing the main character, Eric Love, played brilliantly by Jack O'Connell (Unbroken), who has just been sent to prison after spending years in juvenile institutions for his violent behavior. He's sent to the same prison where his father (played by Ben Mendelsohn) has been spending most of his life. Their hurtful relationship gives us a glimpse of why Eric behaves the way he does and it is ultimately what engages the audience with his character. However my favorite aspect of the film is the relationship he shares with the therapist (Rupert Friend) who is trying to help with his violent nature. The film is gritty and it also has a lot going on with the rest of the prisoners and guards as well. As opposed to what we feel for the prisoners, the guards don't really view their humanity. Starred Up succeeds as an authentic portrayal inside a prison.

This is only the second time I have seen a film directed by David Mackenzie and he is back on my radar now. I had seen Spread, starring Ashton Kutcher, and I really disliked that movie. This film felt like it was directed by a completely different person. A lot of the credit has to be given to the screenwriter for writing such a compelling prison drama with scenes that you are completely invested in and have you at the edge of your seat. But of course one can't leave out the brilliant performance from Jack O'Connell who delivers one of the most memorable prisoner characters I've seen. His physical performance is just inspiring. There are a number of secondary characters that will also be remembered. Ben Mendelsohn as Eric's father is great and so is Friend as the therapist. I enjoyed many of the interactions Eric had with them and with some of his inmates. There are several things going on as we sort of get a slice of life of these prisoners life. I may have been describing this film mostly as a drama, but believe me there are several moments of incredible tension and gritty violence. It balances these themes very well and makes for a compelling watch.

For a film that seemed to come out of nowhere, with a limited advertisement campaign and small budget, Starred Up has proved to be one of the more ballsy pictures released in some time - and with a UK release date sandwiched between two major blockbuster sequels, it had to do something to stand out from the crowd.

The main attribute of the film is its acting, most notably central character Jack O'Connell; a career-best performance from our lead protagonist serves as the driving force of the film, immersing the audience so much in the drama of it all that we can't believe we're feeling sorry for the prick we thought we knew in the opening stages.

However we all know that good acting doesn't necessarily constitute a good film; but placing such talent in the hands of David Mackenzie and providing a gripping (albeit unoriginal) story line is a damn good combination.

Despite the many positives, where this film fails is in the variety of on-screen shenanigans. Although it does slowly progress, the day-to-day life on the inside seems repetitive and predictable, particularly when the overall message is all too familiar and practically clichéd.

All in all however, Starred Up is one of the best prison dramas in a long time, and probably the best British film this year. Not for the faint-hearted, this superbly acted drama will scare you into following the law to the strictest command.