Green Room

As I mentioned in last week's post, I went to see Jeremy Saulnier's newest film, Green Room at Cinemapolis. I've been a fan of Saulnier since I saw his previous film Blue Ruin. Blue Ruin was a slow burn revenge flick that was both beautiful and brutal. You can check out the trailer right here.

Based off of Blue Ruin I knew that this film would be intense, but holy shit, was it brutal. The movie follows a punk band called the Ain't Rights who do a gig at a skinhead bar where they witness a horrific act and find themselves trapped in the bar, fighting for their lives.  Check out the trailer here.

Never before has a movie both enthralled me and made me very uncomfortable. The film is graphically violent, but the violence isn't your typical over-the-top action movie violence, it's not played for laughs as it might be for a Tarantino film. The violence is brutal and realistic. There is an arm breaking scene early on in the movie that head let out an audible yelp in the theatre. Hands are mangled, throats are slashed, throats are ripped out by dogs, As the film progresses we become more and more uncomfortable with what we're seeing on screen.
Where I give the film so much credit is that it manages to have authentic characters who stand out, something that doesn't tend to happen in films of this sort. Each member of the band has a distinct persona that we see develop through the situation they find themselves trapped in.

Those expecting a non-stop action film may be somewhat disappointed as the film takes its time, slowly building up to the horrific acts that will take place. Even after Green Room explodes into a violent chaotic cacophony, it still crawls along, slowly feeding us the violence, keeping us in a constant state of unease. We are trapped, just like our protagonists.

The film is playing at Cinemapolis and I highly recommend you see this brutal and brilliant film that will stick with you long after you leave the theatre.

This is England

This is a British film that focuses on the life of an average boy going up in England during the 1980s. The story revolves around the boy becoming part of a gang, the skinheads. According to Wikipedia "A skinhead is a member of a subculture that originated among working class youths in London, England in the 1960s and then soon spread to other parts of the United Kingdom, and later to other countries around the world."

This is not a film that glorifies the country of England. In fact it makes the viewer aware of how even countries that seem to be wealthy have poverty and gangs. this film contradicts and makes fun of ideas commonly thought of when thinking about England. In the title sequence there is a compilation of images of common perceptions of England mixed with images of poverty, war, and riots. This not only aids with the setting of the film but also helps communicate the plot. 

The film is rather slow and focuses strongly on racism and oppression. There is a heavy focus on white supremacy in the film and it is not communicated subtly. It is very in your face and evokes the audience's emotions on the topic. 

 

Even though this is not an uplifting film and it seems to end abruptly I believe that it is very entertaining story that focuses on issues that are important in our culture. A powerful force behind getting this point across is the protagonist "Shane Meadows" who is the young boy played by Thomas Turgoose. It is very powerful seeing a young boy being adopted into the violence of white supremacy.