hache-jones Reviews

Sacrifice (III) (2013)

Sacrifice - A Ryan Claffey film

[8/10 · 13 September 2013]

From Next Wave Motion Pictures 2013

Sacrifice is, to all intents and purposes, a gangster movie set in London. In point of fact it is much more than that. Starring Dave Courtney as Frank Morgan, Dan Brando as Marco Carbone, Robert Toretto as Enzo Carbone and Price Lindsey as Nick Hayden, the story has more twists and turns than a bowl of fusilli.

Frank Morgan pretty much runs South East London with the Carbone brothers running their own territory. These rival factions come together in an unusual deal which goes badly wrong when a group of young car thieves steal a car laden with the cocaine which formed the basis of the Morgan/Carbone deal. Throw into the mix the ever present desire for rival factions to wipe each other out and a complex story of ambition and betrayal emerges. As the story unfolds we are given insights into the lives of diverse groups of people. The young thieves, the employees of Frank Morgan and the Carbone brothers, the prostitute Charlene (beautifully played by Natalia Francesca) who is forced to pay Frank for "protection" and is persecuted by a neighbour, Kayleigh (the ever talented Francesca Marie). And weaving subtly through all of this is the enigmatic tale of a card player Nick Hayden (a superbly elegant performance by Price Lindsey). Hayden is a sort of "Mentalist" character for whom a close shave in New York finds him fleeing to London where he very quickly establishes himself as a master poker player and finds himself ultimately at a big-money card game organised by Frank Morgan. The twists and turns continue keeping the viewer on the edge of their seats with the ending bring in even more surprises.

Ryan Claffey's dialogue in this film is masterful. Despite the serious subject matter he still manages to include some humour which gives a very authentic feel to the script. An illustration: Franco Carbone is lecturing his younger brother Enzo and becoming a bit animated. Enzo: You're drunk again. Marco: No, I'm not drunk. I'm just thinking clearly, that's all.

The Next Wave partnership of Writer/Director, Ryan Claffey and DOP/Exec Producer, Carl Michael have once again produced a miracle with this ultra low budget film. They have a rare talent for producing quality material combined with wonderful photography and for attracting the very best actors who give their time for free.

Sacrifice premièred on 31st August at the Portobello Film Festival and has just been nominated by the Festival for an award.

Ghetto Fairytale (2012)

Ghetto Fairytale – food for thought

[8/10 · 15 May 2013]

This short (just under 13 minutes) is written and directed by the young and talented Francesca Marie. Shot on a budget of around £2000 it premières at The Hideaway, London on October 2nd and will then go on to festivals beginning with the Brixton Film Festival from 23rd to 28th October. The film is produced by Asif Bhagwandin and Francesca Marie, and stars Francesca Marie, Reena Lalbihari, Warren Adams, and Okorie Chukwu.

The low budget for this film does not prevent it from delivering impressively. I do have one tiny gripe concerning the sound. The device of using the sound of wind on the mic in some outdoor shots to give an 'urban' feel didn't really work for me but that's a matter of personal taste and the rest is splendid. The opening scene, slightly soft focus, has a fairytale princess running bare-foot in the woods amid balloons, floating seeds and soap bubbles. Magical. From there straight into the harsh and gritty world of our everyday lives. Unusually, the film is narrated in rhyming couplets combined with some spoken dialogue which works well given that we are witnessing the fantasies of a would-be princess trapped in a tough contemporary London. From the film's description as a modern-day fairytale I was expecting a fairly standard 'rags to riches' story but that isn't, in fact, what this film is about. Apart from the "Once upon a time" opening and the "Happy ever after" closing, it bears little relation to the fairy tales of our childhood. Rather it is an exploration of the most profound use of escapism. Take each and every experience of a young girl living in an impossibly hard world and transform it, as though by magic, into a thing of beauty. The utmost in the art of survival. And the saddest and most moving line of the narration "Hope was a place that was completely forbidden" is, for me, the keystone to the whole concept of the screenplay.

Having said that, all the usual fairytale characters are portrayed here. The Princess, The King, The Suitor, The Beast and so on, together with a most un-fairytale like Hannah the Prozzy played with gusto by Reena Lalbihari. The young cast all work well together with not a single weak performance. But special mention must go to Warren Adams whose consummate comedic performance as the cringingly nerdy Mr. Romantic is a joy to behold.

Just one word of caution. The dialogue and the narration are aimed firmly at a young adult generation. The gap between my age group and that of the target audience is the size of the Grand Canyon and, as a consequence, I can't pretend to understand the street slang. However that does not in the least detract from the enjoyment of this piece and at no point did I feel lost or confused. In fact both the action and the dialogue transport the viewer without the need to understand every word.

Conclusion – a refreshing concept, thoroughly entertaining and surprisingly thought provoking. Don't miss it if you get the chance.

London Stories (2012)

London Stories, a film with a purpose

[9/10 · 14 May 2013]

Ever asked yourself whether the differences between people from divergent cultures are numerous or few? Watch London Stories and then ask yourself again. This 60 minute low budget film written and directed by Ryan Claffey and produced by Carl Bryan will challenge your perceptions.

The tag line of the film "Minority is a word. We define its meaning" is essentially what this film does. It sets out to explore the concept of minority by telling the stories of several different London-based families from diverse cultural backgrounds. Each of the stories has its differences and its similarities. The differences are about ethnicity, attitude, sexual orientation and experience. But the similarities are what makes the film really interesting. By very cleverly tying the stories together we are given an insight into how sharing by communicating can make people think in ways they may not have done before. This, together with a cross-cultural desire and need to be accepted, leads to a re-evaluation of sometimes deeply held beliefs and values and, ultimately, to the resolution or mitigation of the unique set of problems affecting each of the families.

Briefly, the families are:

Brothers Adam (Simon Mathews) and Tony (David Wayman) and their father Robert (Tony Sams). Adam is gay and has a partner, Edmond (Richard Angol) while Tony is in a straight relationship with Parminda (Ulrika Krishnamurti). Robert knows about and is very accepting of Tony's relationship but Adam has not yet felt able to tell his father that he's gay.

Perminda's parents are dead and she lives with her brother Sarjit (Jaz Deol). Sarjit, as Parminda's elder brother feels responsible for looking after her and is unhappy at her dating a non-Hindu man.

Darren (Conrad Plentie), Michael (Kyle Turlunch), and Mark (Akpore Uzoh) are three brothers with very different attitudes and lifestyles. Michael, the youngest, is torn between the opposing attitudes of his two brothers and struggles to decide which of his siblings is the better influence.

The individual stories are told in part by a narrator and in part by using a flash-back approach. Using a narrator was, I felt, a master- stroke giving an almost docu-drama feel to the film. I was less sure, to begin with, about the use of flash-back. It made parts of the action difficult to place chronologically. But this misgiving quickly dissolved as the stories unfolded and began to interweave. Most of the cast members are relatively inexperienced but their individual performances were clearly bolstered by their sense of rapport and by good direction. And there were outstanding performances by David Wayman, Conrad Plentie, Kyle Turlunch, and Naomi Grossett (Joanna, Mark's lover). In each case their portrayals were solid, rounded and very well studied so that their characters became very much alive.

Two scenes in particular stood out and gave the film a real sense of gravitas. The first, a major argument between Adam and Edmond in Adam's home was breathtaking in its intensity; while the second, an astoundingly moving scene between Tony, Parminda and Sarjit ended with a tiny comedic touch that was profoundly warming. Given the extremely low budget for this film it achieves much. Quality photography and a wide variety of location shots give the impression that the budget was much bigger than it was. Does it achieve what it set out to do? Go and see it and decide for yourself.

London Stories premières at the Portobello Film Festival, Wednesday 12th September, 2012.

Hache L Jones