Film Reviews by Darius

A bleak and powerful film, with strong performances particularly from the young actors. The experience of watching the DVD, however, was seriously marred for me by the incessant woman's voice providing English commentary as if for a blind person. I tried several times altering the settings to get rid of this, but without success. The on-screen subtitles would have been more than adequate.

Fast-paced and a bit confusing at times, particularly for those of us outwith the age range of the main characters of the film, but successfully gets across the utter futility and pointlessness of the South London postcode gang culture.

It was fortunate that I watched this film within a few weeks of finishing the book; otherwise I would have been confused. The director, John Crowley, in common with most directors, eschews the chronological approach and jumps back and forth. The cast is OK (I have no idea what an authentic Russian accent sounds like!). The non-chronological approach makes it difficult to become acquainted with the characters. I quite enjoyed it but doubt it would have made any sense to me if I hadn't recently read the book.