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