Thursday, 26 January 2017

Ill Manors: film review

    
Ill manors, released in 2012, is a British crime drama film written and directed by Ben Drew, perhaps more widely known as singer-songwriter Plan B. Although shot on a very limited budget, approximately£100,000, it still managed to capture the reality of a gritty, violence infused East London. As well as this, it appears far more refined and costly than its low budget. This could have been because of the outstanding cinematography performed by Gary Shaw, who was rewarded by receiving the ‘Technicolor Award for Best Cinematography.’ Another stunning aspect of the film was the music, all original music from Plan B himself.

This unique, urban crime film revolves around a series of characters, all of which are striving to survive the vicious cycle of violence that inundates them. To begin, arguably, the most prominent character is ‘Aaron’ played by Riz Ahmed. He acts as the main protagonist who shows us inner turmoil and conflict. This is apparent because he constantly appears to be caught between doing the right thing and maintaining his friendships. Aaron’s partner ‘Ed,’ is played by Ed Skrein. From the onset of the film, wherein Ed is put into jail, he appears to be ruthless, dark and unforgiving. He lacks sympathy and remorse, yet by the end of the film Ben Drew manages to evoke immense sympathy from the audience towards him. This is successfully carried out by Drew ensuring the characters were not just two-dimensional, rather that the characters weren't just entirely corrupt or entirely virtuous - instead they expressed a spectrum of character traits, even if subtle. To continue from the most prominent characters, we are also presented with Keith Coggins as ‘Kirby’, Lee Allen as ‘Chris,’ Nick Sagar as ‘Marcel,’ Ryan De La Cruz as ‘Jake,’ Anouska Mond as ‘Michelle’ and Nathalie Press as ‘Katya.’

The film, at first appears to depict their storylines as being completely separate but with use of with small links, they end up intertwining at the end to create one consecutive, connected plot. This is an excellent method of hooking viewers to the plot and it perfectly demonstrates the society depicted in the film. By creating these different yet connected storylines, the film gives draws attention to several perspectives and types of people in British society. It is an incredibly accurate portrayal of that kind of environment and captures it ensuring it maintains its gritty realism. Perhaps the way this was done so successfully was through the fact that it was inspired by real events witnessed by the director and his friends.

On the other hand, there are many negative reviews regarding the film. Tim Robey stated that ‘it is hard-hitting, but in all the worst ways, like being repeatedly thumped by a randomly furious street hawker.’ He claimed that Drew’s storytelling was ‘underpowered' and depended far too much on Riz Ahmed’s ‘natural amiability’ in order to present an antagonist. A critique of this film I felt was that Drew is very hypocritical and it is embodied in his film. The many, many convenient twists of fate stuck out to me. Most jarringly, was the baby being tossed out a window to escape a raging fire and being saved. This expedience left me to consider that Drew is wedged between wanting to believe in hope that individuals can latch onto in attempt to escape their bleak lives and the inevitability of tragedy in crime ridden societies.

Despite the weaknesses, the overall impact of the film overshadowed any critiques I devised. Ultimately, the film is a visually breathtaking and provided an emotionally haunting and potent experience.

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