The work of pioneering Black British filmmaker Horace Ové will be celebrated this fall with a BFI Southbank retrospective season titled Power to the People: Horace Ové’s Radical Vision.
A 4K restored version of “Pressure” (1976), the first full-length Black British film, which is an exploration of the concerns faced by emerging second-generation West Indians in Britain, will receive a joint restoration world premiere at the BFI London Film Festival and the New York Film Festival on Oct. 11. This precedes the film’s U.K.-wide cinema release by BFI Distribution and on BFI Player on Nov. 3.
The restoration, funded by the BFI Production Board and conducted by the BFI National Archive and The Film Foundation, was made possible with contributions from the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation and the BFI philanthropy Pioneers of Black British Filmmaking consortium. It was accomplished in collaboration with the Ové family and producer Robert Buckler,...
A 4K restored version of “Pressure” (1976), the first full-length Black British film, which is an exploration of the concerns faced by emerging second-generation West Indians in Britain, will receive a joint restoration world premiere at the BFI London Film Festival and the New York Film Festival on Oct. 11. This precedes the film’s U.K.-wide cinema release by BFI Distribution and on BFI Player on Nov. 3.
The restoration, funded by the BFI Production Board and conducted by the BFI National Archive and The Film Foundation, was made possible with contributions from the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation and the BFI philanthropy Pioneers of Black British Filmmaking consortium. It was accomplished in collaboration with the Ové family and producer Robert Buckler,...
- 8/21/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
NEW YORK -- The title of Udayan Prasad's feature refers to a group of Pakistani emigrants, all living together in one house and trying to survive in 1960s England. A tragicomedy and kitchen-sink drama with an occasional lurch into melodrama, this well-made film works best as a study of intense claustrophobia and cultural dislocation.
"Brothers in Trouble" received its U.S. theatrical premiere recently at New York's Film Forum.
Amir (Pavan Malhotra) arrives in town under less than dignified circumstances -- in a packing crate filled with vegetables, to be exact. He is spirited away to a home in London, which is filled with 17 other Pakistanis who have set up a secret communal living arrangement. The older leader of the group is Hussein Shah (Om Puri), who arranges for such necessities as the prostitute who comes over every Sunday to service the entire house. Amir soon finds work at a local mill and begins to settle in, hanging out with Sakib (Pravesh Kumar), a sensitive would-be writer.
Trouble arises when a woman enters the mix; Shah brings his British girlfriend Mary (Angeline Ball, from "The Commitments") to stay at the house. At first, her sunny spirits prove infectious, and the men respond to her charm. Mary is pregnant, and when it turns out that her newborn child is obviously not Shah's, he is humiliated. To save face, he forces her to endure a paper marriage to his nephew Irshad (Ahsen Bhatti). The resulting romantic complications have tragic repercussions.
The film is an affecting portrait of both the intense camaraderie and competitive tension that develops among the immigrants, and it is most effective when detailing their feelings of isolation and strangeness, such as the scene in which they visit a local movie house to enjoy imported Indian movies. It works less well as conventional drama; Amir, the central character, is a passive and oblique figure who mainly reacts to the chaos around him. And the film, like the house, is overpopulated to such a degree that confusion reigns.
Puri, one of India's leading actors, provides a great authority to his role as Shah, and Ball is a delight as Mary. Director Prasad is expert at conveying the chillingly cramped confines of the men's living conditions and their prospects in general.
BROTHERS IN TROUBLE
BBC Films
A Renegade Films production
A First Run Features release
Director Udayan Prasad
Producer-screenplay Robert Buckler
Executive producer George Faber
Director of photography Alan Almond
Editor Barrie Vince
Music Stephen Warbeck
Color/stereo
Cast:
Hussein Shah Om Puri
Mary Angeline Ball
Amir Pavan Malhotra
Sakib Pravesh Kumar
Irshad Ahsen Bhatti
Running time -- 102 minutes
No MPAA rating...
"Brothers in Trouble" received its U.S. theatrical premiere recently at New York's Film Forum.
Amir (Pavan Malhotra) arrives in town under less than dignified circumstances -- in a packing crate filled with vegetables, to be exact. He is spirited away to a home in London, which is filled with 17 other Pakistanis who have set up a secret communal living arrangement. The older leader of the group is Hussein Shah (Om Puri), who arranges for such necessities as the prostitute who comes over every Sunday to service the entire house. Amir soon finds work at a local mill and begins to settle in, hanging out with Sakib (Pravesh Kumar), a sensitive would-be writer.
Trouble arises when a woman enters the mix; Shah brings his British girlfriend Mary (Angeline Ball, from "The Commitments") to stay at the house. At first, her sunny spirits prove infectious, and the men respond to her charm. Mary is pregnant, and when it turns out that her newborn child is obviously not Shah's, he is humiliated. To save face, he forces her to endure a paper marriage to his nephew Irshad (Ahsen Bhatti). The resulting romantic complications have tragic repercussions.
The film is an affecting portrait of both the intense camaraderie and competitive tension that develops among the immigrants, and it is most effective when detailing their feelings of isolation and strangeness, such as the scene in which they visit a local movie house to enjoy imported Indian movies. It works less well as conventional drama; Amir, the central character, is a passive and oblique figure who mainly reacts to the chaos around him. And the film, like the house, is overpopulated to such a degree that confusion reigns.
Puri, one of India's leading actors, provides a great authority to his role as Shah, and Ball is a delight as Mary. Director Prasad is expert at conveying the chillingly cramped confines of the men's living conditions and their prospects in general.
BROTHERS IN TROUBLE
BBC Films
A Renegade Films production
A First Run Features release
Director Udayan Prasad
Producer-screenplay Robert Buckler
Executive producer George Faber
Director of photography Alan Almond
Editor Barrie Vince
Music Stephen Warbeck
Color/stereo
Cast:
Hussein Shah Om Puri
Mary Angeline Ball
Amir Pavan Malhotra
Sakib Pravesh Kumar
Irshad Ahsen Bhatti
Running time -- 102 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 5/27/1997
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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