oldskool72
Joined Jun 2002
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oldskool72's rating
Saw this film last night... One of those films that you watch and think "that could have brilliant, had the production team done a better job" - the editing and bad sound made it hard to fathom out what was going on at times - Its a very intricate plot and these factors didnt help.
Having said that, it IS a beautiful, gentle (but modern in terms of its take on life) film. Its shot kind of "Sliding Doors" stylee... same story 3 times from a different characters perspective (which was a mistake, too ambitious - i got lost in places) they all meet at a wake in a small seaside town, friends, lovers and... florists...
What results is a fairly tight-knit community where obviously characters lives overlap in terms of lovers and situations etc....
The Scenenry is breathtaking (if you like desolate seaside like me) and used really well to give the film space and mood
Like most of the better modern brit-films is has a gay plot (Younger guy left widowed by his older partner) - but it is well played and treated with sensitivity and in an uncliched, spirited fashion. For all the tired "Queer as Folk" stereotypes we are force fed, its refreshing to see gay people portrayed in everyday, yet unique and challenging ways. More of the different please!
To sum up, "Lawless Heart" wont change your life, but if you decide to watch it, stick with it and lose yourself in its introspective beauty.
Having said that, it IS a beautiful, gentle (but modern in terms of its take on life) film. Its shot kind of "Sliding Doors" stylee... same story 3 times from a different characters perspective (which was a mistake, too ambitious - i got lost in places) they all meet at a wake in a small seaside town, friends, lovers and... florists...
What results is a fairly tight-knit community where obviously characters lives overlap in terms of lovers and situations etc....
The Scenenry is breathtaking (if you like desolate seaside like me) and used really well to give the film space and mood
Like most of the better modern brit-films is has a gay plot (Younger guy left widowed by his older partner) - but it is well played and treated with sensitivity and in an uncliched, spirited fashion. For all the tired "Queer as Folk" stereotypes we are force fed, its refreshing to see gay people portrayed in everyday, yet unique and challenging ways. More of the different please!
To sum up, "Lawless Heart" wont change your life, but if you decide to watch it, stick with it and lose yourself in its introspective beauty.
Its a couple of years since i saw this film, so please bear with me while i remember it through "rose tinted spectacles" but "Girl with.." is the story of a mixed-raced teenager growing up in 1970's Leicester (an average industrial city in the Midlands, UK) and her rites of passage to becoming the adult she wants to be. She is encouraged by her athletics teacher (the now well-known UK actor John Thomson - Pete from "Cold Feet" aka "Life Love & Everything Else" in the US) to follow her dream of being a professional runner, meanwhile her mother is another kettle of fish........
I grew up in 1970's Leicester so it was of particular interest to me, and in that respect it didnt dissapoint. Where it does dissapoint is that the writer/director has tried to tackle too many issues in one (low-budget) film - Racism, coming of age, religion (of sorts), sex, and the great working class dilemma of gifted children being dragged down by the "low achiever" mentality of those around them.
I wont spoil it but the end is just plain weird and almost unconnected - the sort of film where you think "it was watchable... but the ending.... why??". Some re-editing and tailoring of the plot could have put this film up with "East is East" etc (which incidentally was the story of ethnic minority kids growing up in a 1970's Industrial City - it came out a year or so later to a much wider audience).
We are very lucky here in the UK to have so many different cultures (and indeed hybrids of those cultures) that we can draw from and learn from, and sometimes laugh WITH (as opposed to laugh AT) on the big screen. "Girl with" suffered on the humour tip - i think some more lighthearted moments may have helped this film along a little.
An ambitious attempt, which ultimately got pipped at the post...... Great title though!!
I grew up in 1970's Leicester so it was of particular interest to me, and in that respect it didnt dissapoint. Where it does dissapoint is that the writer/director has tried to tackle too many issues in one (low-budget) film - Racism, coming of age, religion (of sorts), sex, and the great working class dilemma of gifted children being dragged down by the "low achiever" mentality of those around them.
I wont spoil it but the end is just plain weird and almost unconnected - the sort of film where you think "it was watchable... but the ending.... why??". Some re-editing and tailoring of the plot could have put this film up with "East is East" etc (which incidentally was the story of ethnic minority kids growing up in a 1970's Industrial City - it came out a year or so later to a much wider audience).
We are very lucky here in the UK to have so many different cultures (and indeed hybrids of those cultures) that we can draw from and learn from, and sometimes laugh WITH (as opposed to laugh AT) on the big screen. "Girl with" suffered on the humour tip - i think some more lighthearted moments may have helped this film along a little.
An ambitious attempt, which ultimately got pipped at the post...... Great title though!!
Firstly, lets get the negatives ironed out and set the record straight.
Yes, the plot gets a bit lost towards the end, yes some of the acting is questionable, yes some of the storyline is a little far fetched. If we judged every film we saw on those merits alone we'd be very shallow people! Thank heavens British Cinema gets away with making films like this, that represent British History, Culture and lifestyle in a non-conformist, sensitive and "path less trodden" view.
Yes it has a gay story line... and to correct another review only ONE of the two central characters is gay. What sets this film apart if we are discussing it within the genre of "Gay films" is that it tackles the delicate issue of men of Afro-Caribbean descent being gay in an interesting and uncompromising way. It doesn't pander to our expectations/stereotypical view of gay men, and utilises the sexuality angle as an integral part of the whole plot. "Jeffery" it aint! Nuff Said!
The whole story is set in the Summer of 1977 - the Queens Silver Jubilee. Chris & Caz run "Soul Patrol" - a pirate radio station that plays Jazz Funk - marginalised at the time by Punk and Reggae. One of their close friend's is murdered in the park, and Chris finds a piece of evidence as to who the killer is.
The film is Directed by Isaac Julien, who was shortlisted for a Turner Prize recently (2002) (A prestigious UK award within the art community) Julien has captured, by use of location (Dalston - East London) Lighting (capturing the hot summer of '77 perfectly) and Music (the soundtrack is a gem - Roy Ayers, Funkadelic, Blackbyrds etc) a mood and feeling that I've felt from no other film.
In some ways "Young Soul Rebels" was ahead of its time, and was badly marketed and has been aired very little since its release in 1991. Its "Celebration & Integration" message is how we now live, as a mixed race/sexuality culture here in the Major towns of the UK today... it seems such a shame to mis-label it "A gay film" when there is clearly more to it than that.
Yes, the plot gets a bit lost towards the end, yes some of the acting is questionable, yes some of the storyline is a little far fetched. If we judged every film we saw on those merits alone we'd be very shallow people! Thank heavens British Cinema gets away with making films like this, that represent British History, Culture and lifestyle in a non-conformist, sensitive and "path less trodden" view.
Yes it has a gay story line... and to correct another review only ONE of the two central characters is gay. What sets this film apart if we are discussing it within the genre of "Gay films" is that it tackles the delicate issue of men of Afro-Caribbean descent being gay in an interesting and uncompromising way. It doesn't pander to our expectations/stereotypical view of gay men, and utilises the sexuality angle as an integral part of the whole plot. "Jeffery" it aint! Nuff Said!
The whole story is set in the Summer of 1977 - the Queens Silver Jubilee. Chris & Caz run "Soul Patrol" - a pirate radio station that plays Jazz Funk - marginalised at the time by Punk and Reggae. One of their close friend's is murdered in the park, and Chris finds a piece of evidence as to who the killer is.
The film is Directed by Isaac Julien, who was shortlisted for a Turner Prize recently (2002) (A prestigious UK award within the art community) Julien has captured, by use of location (Dalston - East London) Lighting (capturing the hot summer of '77 perfectly) and Music (the soundtrack is a gem - Roy Ayers, Funkadelic, Blackbyrds etc) a mood and feeling that I've felt from no other film.
In some ways "Young Soul Rebels" was ahead of its time, and was badly marketed and has been aired very little since its release in 1991. Its "Celebration & Integration" message is how we now live, as a mixed race/sexuality culture here in the Major towns of the UK today... it seems such a shame to mis-label it "A gay film" when there is clearly more to it than that.