Suffragette.

Another fact based story, this time one which has been constructed around the woman’s suffrage movement in Britain in the late 19^th and early 20^th century. The movie includes some real life characters, Emmeline Pankhurst (Meryl Streep) leader of the movement and Emily Davison (Natalie Press) a militant suffragette who was jailed on nine occasions and force-fed 49 times both written in along side some very convincing fictitious characters.   Written by Abi Morgan who was also responsible for screenplay for Brick Lane (2007) co writer on the Steve McQueen directed movie Shame (2011) and created and wrote the six-part British TV drama Series River that stars Stellan Skarsgard and Nicola Walker. Directed by Sarah Gavron, who won a Best Director award for Brick Lane, Suffragette (2015) was selected to open the 2015 BFI London Film Festival.

 

The protest goes on (the London Premiere) 

The brave women that Morgan's story was based upon. 

As I have already said Morgan’s story is based around real life facts that emanates from the decision of Emmeline Pankhurst to concentrate on deeds and not just words, an edict that went a long way to radicalise woman of all classes encouraging them to participate in actions of social unrest and acts of destruction.  At the centre of the narrative is Maud Watts, played by Carey Mulligan in award winning mode, who has worked in the same laundry since a very young child, a married woman with a small child of her own. We witness Maud accidentally getting mixed up with a window-breaking riot in Oxford Street London. This single incident leads her deeper into the movement and the effect it has on her and her family life.

 

'Deeds not Words' 

Although most people will be familiar with the woman’s movement and its battle to allow female voting rights the movie really does concentrate the mind on how difficult and hard it was to win what should have been a basic right for all women over the age of eighteen. It’s still incomprehensible to believe that it took until 1928 for woman to get parity in the UK with men over their voting rights. Just one more example of how hard it is to go against the establishment and their paid lackeys. The film is difficult to watch at times not because of what you see on the screen but because of the story it’s portraying, an unbelievable mix of sadness, hardship and dedication. The cast also includes Helena Bonham Carter, Brendan Gleeson, Ben Whishaw and Anne-Marie Duff.

Arrested by the Establishments Lackeys. 

Fifty Dead Men Walking.

Without having read Stakeknife – Britain’s Secret Agents in Ireland written by Greg Harkin and Martin Ingram it would have proved more difficult to understand Kari Skogland’s thriller Fifty Dead Men Walking (2008) about Ireland between 1988 and 1991 in a period of Irish history known universally as The Troubles. Stakeknife is an expose of how British Military Intelligence recruited undercover informants via the British Force Research Unit to work for both the IRA and the Unionist organisations. Most notoriously for the ‘Nutting Squad’, which was the IRA’s internal security force that allegedly tortured and killed around 40 suspected informers. Therefore these people were murdered under the direct influence of the British Government!

 

British agent Fergus....

The movie tends to cover much the same ground as the Harkin/Ingram book, but is based on a loose adaptation of Martin McGartland’s 1997 autobiography. McGarland was a petty crook recruited by a British agent known as Fergus who becomes his handler (a not particularly convincing Ben Kingsley) to infiltrate the Republican Army. At first McGarland does not take his new role seriously but the deeper he gets involved the more it affects his own life and the lives of the people around him including his girlfriend Lara (Natalie Press) and their baby.

 

....recruits more agents!

The film takes its name from McGartland's claim, within his book, to have saved the lives of fifty people including police officers, soldiers, and prison guards during his time as an British informant. Thirty six year old British actor and singer Jim Sturgess, who has regularly appeared on TV and in feature films since 1994, gives a credible performance as the double agent. The biggest problem with this film, along side its rather complicated proceeding’s, is the sound, which makes it very difficult at times to understand what is being said, and the old faithful undertitles were not available on the copy I watched!

ill Manors.

Ben Drew, never afraid to give an opinion (he must be a Londoner!)

Ben Drew is an interesting character: born Benjamin Paul Balance Drew in Forest Gate East London in 1983 he is celebrated professionally as Plan B. Primarily known as a rapper and a singer songwriter. His second studio album was the very well received The Defamation of Strickland Banks (2010) a soul record that went straight to number one in the United Kingdom album charts. Another string to Drew’s bow is his talents as a movie actor appearing in Adulthood (2008), Harry Brown (2009) 4.3.2.1 (2010) and as George Carter, Detective Inspector Jack Regan’s sidekick, in the film version of The Sweeney (2012)

East End youth culture!

This rather talented young man has now written and directed his own movie ill Manors (2012). It presents a different take on the London we have all seen during this summers Olympic games. Set in Forest Gate it attempts to illustrate the gang culture of this part of East London and depicts the type of young people

who could have been involved in the inner city riots that took place during the summer of 2011. A great deal of the back ground for this movie is contained within the words of the songs written and performed by Plan B which gives us the equivalent of a spoken narrative but in song. The director giving a unique insight to a side of life which most of us only experience from the news, juxtaposing the lives of various disenfranchised young people in a very skilful manor but without glamorisation or exaggeration.

Part of this culture is the power of the gun.

Aaron (Riz Ahmed who gets better every time you see him) brought up in a children’s home is trying to stay clean and wants to locate his biological mother, his best mate Ed (Ed Skrein) a tough small time dealer, has lost his mobile phone which has got the numbers of his drug contacts. Suspecting the crack addicted prostitute Michelle (Anouska Mond) of stealing the phone he literally drags her round the streets pimping her until she has raised enough money to pay him back. Kirby, ex king pin dealer of the area has just been released from prison and now has to wrestle control from his former apprentice Chris who has taken control of the ex prisoners turf.  Chris in the mean time is trying to extract revenge for the shooting of his young sister while the teenager Jake is determined to prove himself to Marcel so he can join his gang. Katya (Natalie Press one of the few professional actors) is pregnant and trying to escape from Russian sex traffickers.

Both Chris and Jake are victims of the culture.

I think from this brief description you can ascertain the general essence of the movie. The original idea came from a short film that Ben Drew made with the help of Mike Figgis (Leaving Las Vegas 1995) in 2008 for the London Film Festival. Beginning with a 20-page script, reduced to 5 pages it became Bisness Woman. Which in turn led to a longer film called Michelle, which demonstrated that Drew was an up and coming director of some merit.  Expanding the same character’s found in Michelle Drew went on to make ill Manors.

..... as is the young trafficked  Russian girl Katya.

Initially having to contend with 2009’s credit crunch, finance was hard to come by but eventually making the film with a micro-budget provided by the Film London Microwave scheme. Making the film on location in Forest Gate was also a problem because the local gangs, who were none too keen on them ‘invading’ their turf to make a movie, constantly monitored the crew who attempted to be as unobtrusive as possible.

Are Aaron and Ed forced into this culture by a birth lottery?

This is a fall-on hard-hitting slice of gritty entertainment based on reality that attempts to give reasons for the attitude of this disfranchised section of society. It also sets out to disprove the platitudes put out by our out of touch rulers that preaches to the gullible that staging the Olympics in East London would change the perceptions and the lives of the local inhabitants? An excellent first feature from our rap star but one that will leave you feeling you have been battered both mentally and physically.