Counter Culture

Click on image to buy DVD!

I remember the hype about this film; if I recall lots of hand wringing…was it meant to be edgy? Cutting edge? Challenging? Celebrating racism?! Boy, O boy – partly autobiographical i.e. not written by a middle-class student or sixth-former! Wooden acting, stereotypical characters – lots of warnings on Film Four following each commercial break -yes the language was “bad” but NOTHING about this film was gritty, subtle, multi-dimensional, worrying, questioning, thought-provoking…I can’t get over the auto-biographical slant – otherwise it was a film I would have expected to be made by middle-class folk who have never lived on a “sink-estate” about working-class characters they’ve never met and about politics they haven’t got a clue about or any sense of how those politics might take hold of the dispossessed. Just one cliché after another. It got a bit “edgier” towards the end – all I can say is, thank God I didn’t waste my money at the flics. As for the end – little Shaun (by the way what was the paedophile thing going on – or does paedophilia only occur if the GIRL is young! Where were the Film Four warnings about this? I digress!) – the end: “symbolic” – the Cross of  St.George flag tossed in to the sea – was there a flag so maligned by its own nation’s artists me wonders? Is it not possible to write a film script/play/novel that deals with working-class politics (non –“left”) that uncovers truths beyond the cliché? Any producers out there, I’m yer man! I could do a better job and I’d put my pen where my mouth is!!!  So – not impressed…doubly not impressed because against the backdrop of the Falkland’s war (and therefore of relevance NOW with Afghanistan/Iraq) and with the rise of “far-right” politics (could these politics be dealt with so lazily in this modern technological age?) this film should REALLY have hit home – got me deep down and provoked a multitude of thoughts – not just these negative ones. I guess the only thing to say about the film (was it really so raved about?) – is that the political-skinhead didn’t have a homosexual affair (see how many times THAT one happens) or discover he was – in fact – an ethnic minority or his granddad was Jewish. I’m not suggesting any of these things work, are subtle or even help the cause of all of us rubbing-along on this tiny isle. It’s simply that when it comes to any artistic offering on the “far-right” we never get something “focussed” just looked at “askance” with the eyes and intellect of a schoolboy. Well it got me typing at least…The French made a great film about racial tension called “La Haine” – I still recall that years after watching – it had an effect. It lodged inside me. This film will be forgotten (by me) come morning. O, and as a musician – the clumsy inclusion of piano notes and strings at times was…No I’m lost for words – cue violin and piano to end review!