Lesson 15 : closure and ideology

The third and final sequence is brutal, there is to be no happy ending to this story for Ricky, something that the narrative style has made clear to us all along.

Curtis and a friend Rio find Ricky’s gun and, whilst messing around in woodland, Curtis accidentally shoots Rio who ends up in hospital.  After visiting Rio’s parents and by now convinced that it is only a matter of time before inevitably Curtis - in thrall to the allure of his older brother - will be drawn into a life of crime,  a heart-broken Beverley tells Ricky he has to leave and that he can never return.

As he packs to leave, Ricky talks with Curtis telling him that he will always love him and to understand that his departure is the only way. 

Sending Curtis to the chip shop, Ricky leaves but is recognised at the train station and shot dead by Godfrey.

At the conclusion of the film, Curtis throws Ricky’s gun into a canal.  We are left with the hope that Curtis by this act of independence will have the strength to grow -up leaving the gang culture alone and make his own way.

The film closes with an enigma - a what will happen now to Curtis? - and invites the audience to make their own judgements on this.

Representations:

The film departs from the usual [conventional?] story of a troubled youth with a gun lured into gang violence and crime [a typical - though USA - example of this would be Boyz ‘n the Hood]. Such representations have often mythologized the black urban experience for mainstream consumption.

The issue when presenting such concerns as urban crime is in glamorising the violence, of equal concern is in providing a narrative arc and story that fits into the Classic Hollywood Realist tradition.  Characters fulfilling certain narrative types, familiar plot devices – all aimed at making the issues palatable and accessible to wider audiences.

The film’s focus is centred on how contemporary [2005] urban gun culture affects the family unit – mother, brother, girlfriend – which takes the representation of the issue into a wider sphere, encouraging the audience to see the issue as having ripples and impact way beyond the immediate participant or the traditionally seen ‘victim’ and ‘perpetrator’ roles. 

Representations of the narrative:

Despite an impression of despair, on closer investigation the film avoids most of the ‘easy’ stereotypical, predictable or clichéd targets of [lesser?] films such as Kidulthood. The narrative unfolds without explicit examples of racist behaviour.  On the streets we see aggression, violence and confrontation but  there are no National Front skinheads or prejudiced employers.  The events occur without any background of crime or drug-dealing from  the main characters or even those around them. Aside from Curtis and Rio’s truancy and some low-level dope-smoking, the only crimes we see are those committed by young black men intent on upholding their reputations

The school is represented as concerned and informed about their pupils, the probation officer is compassionate but pushed into issuing the warning to Ricky because of his own inability to organise his life, sort his priorities.  The one example of aggressive institutional action – the armed police raid - is conducted in response to the shooting at Godfrey’s house which the police react to and Ricky then denies any knowledge of.

Narrative task:

What is the ‘message’ of the film?

What aspects of the narrative embody this

What aspects of the narrative reveal this?

Themes:

•       Friendship

•       Family

•       Gang culture

•       Duty/obligation

•       Violence

•       Social landscape

•       Parenting 

Lesson 14: A man's gotta do...

In sequence 2 we find Ricky's 12 year old brother Curtis is battling his own pressures, caught between this world and his mum Beverley's competing aspirations for him. Ricky is at a turning point - his mum and girlfriend Shea are struggling to help him stay out of trouble but he owes a debt of allegiance to Wisdom who some years previous took a knifing for him.  Wisdom has little hope of escaping the world of gangs and guns.

Unaware of his intentions Ricky is dragged along when Wisdom shoots Godfrey the rival gang leader’s dog. Ricky attempts to make peace, declaring that he is not part of any dispute the rival gang may have with Wisdom but there is a return attack in which Wisdom’s car is smashed and threats made on his life. Sensing that violence is unavoidable, Ricky is an accomplice in Wisdom’s attempt to kill his rival, an attempt that goes hopelessly wrong. Ricky tells Wisdom that the debt he owed him has now been repaid and he wants no more part in Wisdom’s life.

Narrative & Genre

These two elements are what are known as ‘meta-concepts’ – sometimes called macro concepts.  These two are the elements of a text that create an arc that encompasses all of the other so-called micro-concepts of editing, shot choice, music, lighting, costume etc [the mise-en-scene].  In writing about these macro concepts you will need to draw upon the ideas and understandings constructed by the micro elements of the film.

To some extent, the fact that a film belongs to a particular genre – such as ‘crime’ – will dictate the story being told [the plot/script/narrative].  It also dictates the director’s use of the micro-elements to reveal that narrative in the manner that audiences of that genre would expect.  The deploying of mise-en-scene elements such as music and lighting will be key elements in creating the conventional atmosphere appropriate to the genre – the high-pitched violins in the shower scene in  Psycho, the theme that heralds and underpins the early shark attacks in Jaws. How audiences ‘read’ a film is based on their understanding of its genre [their anticipation as to what they are going to see and what it will be about] and the narrative is the means by which the ideas of the film are revealed.  The narrative, in effect shapes how we understand the events that are presented to us, how we feel about a character and their actions.  In the crime genre our approval or our judgement on a character depends on ‘how’ their story is told to us - what are we shown.  How we are shown it – the micro-concepts – is the thing that determines issues such as whether we see it as real or our levels of appreciation and enjoyment of the film.

Narrative, along with the key concept of representation, is key to the ideological intention of a film.

In looking at narrative audiences ask : 

• ‘What is this story about?’
• ‘How am I shown it?’
• ‘How do I feel about what I’m being shown?’
• ‘Does this change how I feel about this matter?’

Lesson 13: Boys will be boys

Released in 2004 the film revolves around the stories of 18 year old  Ricky, recently released from a Youth Offenders prison and his much younger brother Curtis.

The area of London where they live is shown as one where even a minor street clash over damage to the wing mirror of a car is able to escalate into a cycle of violence with tragic repercussions.

 In pursuing its story, the film explores diverse themes of family, relationships, friendship, rivalry and revenge. At its core, the focus is on a group of boys who represent  a generation of young men for whom guns have become a fact of life.

Ricky’s story follows a number of conventions -  released from a Youth Offenders Institute he desperately wants to avoid falling back into his criminal past.  The tragedy that the narrative path follows  is a familiar one – in his claustrophobic world  pressure to conform proves inescapable.

The story opens with Ricky’s release from prison.  We see his return home and his attempt to re-build relationships with his mother, his girlfriend, his brother and his close friend Wisdom.  The homecoming is spoilt by two things – firstly, his preference for seeing his girlfriend and Wisdom taking priority over seeing his mother who has arranged a party for him and secondly, a road-rage incident in which the wing mirror of a car is accidentally smashed. Wisdom, who was driving and the local gang rival [Godfrey] whose car is damaged are not prepared to compromise over the incident.  What was a minor confrontation quickly develops into a series of tit for tat reprisals that spiral out of control. 

TASK:

What do we learn of the character of Ricky? [where does this evidence come from?]

What do we learn of the character of Wisdom? [What is the evidence for this?]

What defines their relationship? [Find examples that support this].

How are we positioned to see that things will not end well? Is there anything other than our previous experience of such stories?

Lesson 12: the past is another country

The second sequence - from 20 minutes to 50 minutes - gives us an understanding of the narrative issues of the film.  we 'see' the initial talk where Derek tells Kelly that she has to procure a young girl for Duncan Allen a local crime lord and Kelly's initial resistance to the idea.

We see the way that Kelly finds Joanne and the way that Derek is able;e to play on Joanne's weakness to persuade her to go to Duncan's house for sex.  We also in present time are shown Kelly's attempts to put right the damage she feels she is responsible for by trying to raise the money to send Jo to her grandmother in Devon.

The details fill in gaps in the story but do not answer the key question that Derek finally confronts Kelly with when he arrives in Brighton and catches Kelly and Jo.  'What happened?'

The use of a non-linear narrative allows the director to control what we see and when as much as it does how we see it and he uses it to create further enigmas, particularly around the key question of what happened at Duncan Allen's house and why Stuart is so keen to find them. Such a technique heightens the idea of how the story will play out especially now they are prisoners of Derek.

TASK:

Which other film's do you know that use a non-linear narrative?

Why do you think they did so?

what differences would it make if they had chosen a linear structure?