Police Beat (2005)

An African-born bicycle cop encounters strange and mysterious situations on his police beat in urban Seattle.

Director:

Robinson Devor

Writers:

Robinson Devor, Charles Mudede

Stars:

Pape Sidy Niang, Allan Armstrong, Eric Breedlove

6 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Pape Sidy Niang	...	Z
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Allan Armstrong	...	Agent
Eric Breedlove
Ingrid Sanai Buron	...	Park Visitor
Zack Carlson	...	Junkie
Heidi Darchuk	...	Comfortable woman
Gray Eubank	...	Priest
Sarah Harlett
Jake Hart	...	Internal Affairs Agent
Dennis Kleinsmith	...	Bullet Proof Vest Man
Jerry Lloyd	...	Goose Killer
Andy McCone	...	Rachel's Neighbor
Scott A. Meola	...	Hedge trimmer
Brandon O'Neill	...	Lonely Housebreaker
Elijah Ostrow	...	Homeless Boy

Storyline

Police Beat is a highly unconventional crime film in which the protagonist Z is so preoccupied with his possibly unfaithful girlfriend that he never once acknowledges criminal world that swirls around him. The crimes Z encounters become mirrors of the his turbulent inner state, allowing him to philosophize about his unstable romantic relationship as well as his own development as an emotional being. While Z's regular interactions are in English, his thoughts ­ the film's narration ­ are in his native Wolof, the primary language of West Africa. In this way, Police Beat is an unusual portrait of an immigrant new to the United States that focuses less on the protagonist's socio-economic difficulties than on his emotional responses to American life.

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Plot Keywords:

police | narration | bicycle | policeman | prostitution | 

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Taglines:

Seven Days of Crime & Delusion

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

Wolof (the language spoken in the narration) is the native language of Senegal, but is also spoken widely in parts of Mali, the Gambia, Cote d'Ivoire, and Mauritania.

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Connections

Featured in 2006 Independent Spirit Awards (2006)

User Reviews

Interesting, if extremely flawed, location film.

Police beat falls into the category of somewhat guilty pleasure for me, though certainly in a different way than most films typically relegated to that category.

It's a pleasure because being a Seattleite it's refreshing to see some of the cities lesser known but quite beautiful locations (gasworks park, for instance) shot beautifully on film for the first time. In addition I have to say that while an argument could be made that the African language narration was pretentious I found it fascinating, if for no other reason than that I always thought the idea of shooting an English language film with an abundance of subtitles would be an amusing experiment. There are also some rather funny scenes scattered throughout the movie, some of which work beautifully and others of which fail.

However it's a guilty one because plot wise it's thoroughly aimless and more than a bit pointless, acting wise it's very inconsistent, and overall it's a weak film. I have to admit a bit of a bias since I'm a volunteer at the place that produced and financed the film (nw film forum) and everyone around here worked on it in some way. The other reviewer's comment that just about everyone in the Seattle film scene worked on this movie isn't an exaggeration. In any case if you get a chance to see it I'd recommend you take it, if for no other reason than to see some beautiful Seattle scenery, a couple hilarious scenes, and more than anything a film experience I can guarantee you won't have had before.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Wolof

Release Date:

8 September 2006 (South Korea)

Also Known As:

Cascadia

Filming Locations:

Seattle, Washington, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Northwest Film Forum / WigglyWorld Studios, Modern Digital, Police Beat LLC

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1