Ancillary Task 1 - Film Review Draft 1

Review for TBC

"We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people." 

Even over half a century after his death, Martin Luther King Jr’s words still resonate in the world, in this example a teenage one. Set in a quiet, but highly mixed demographic, village sixth form, in the middle of rural Surrey, it opens the window to the highly abhorrent and frivolous world of teenagers, in the new socialist hybrid from, Joseph Cross.

We meet Luke, standing at a set of lockers, dwindling his time away on what items will aid him most, in contrast to most of his peers who have gone home, whilst he stays to be the persevering student. He is what you would call a model student, a teacher’s pet if you will, a social outcast by his peers.

Out of the misleading blue of the lockers, we are introduced to a new character, Alice, the pretty, quiet, introvert, deemed the odd child in the eyes of their peers, yet the apple of Luke’s eye.

Thereupon for the rest of the short, Luke is battling with his inner demons of his own social acceptance, from his extremely judgmental peers, whilst juxtaposing himself, pining for the acceptance and recognition from Alice. The ending albeit is a completed subverted expectation from the dregs of the bullying/romance love story. It hints at what could be defined as the beginning of a relationship, almost a reaching of Luke’s goal but it is open ended. It is left completely up to the viewer, a like to his previous work, ‘Family Vices’ where the ending was left completely down to how the viewer perceived it.

Though what we have here is an interesting, nose dive in to what is the troubled world of teenagers and how they function, almost a ‘slap to the face’ of the parents, who are in the dark about their own offspring.

Cross tries to affirm the strength of representation of key social issues in his work, this is informed from the nuclear focuses of his previous work ‘Family Vices’ which can be classed as a social realist piece representing the disabled and broken family, yet on the other hand this new piece TBC can be seen as a big step from his preceding title, in the way he is moving in to an under represented area of teenage social stereotypes. Nevertheless, as a viewer you can pick up on the small, lingering wisps, of social realist roots. This in the shape and form that both show a nuclear, destructive cycle, that is forever present, yet the whole story and character representations are totally converse.

It leaves the social realist ideals of the broken home and the troubled, left at home child, slowly progressing in to a more broad audience issue, though still maintaining elements of social realism, however it’s pairing with drama make this an engaging hybrid. This becomes evident as the characters break through the almost, Pandora like box that they are held ransom in by social cliques, such as the protagonist Luke, whom holds his own honorable principles, but is hindered by appearance, much alike to Alice, the quiet weak, introvert and the group of boys who ‘bully’ anyone, piloting a power hungry ego trip.

Narratively, the structure is simple yet engaging. The love story, intrigues the viewer as to what happens but that is only an underlying feature, whilst the drama powers through the waves of rife emotions to keep the viewer entertained.

Referring back to the opening Luke is shown as pining for Alice and quietly dealing with rejection, contrasted with just seconds later a powerful, stand against his oppressors, showing his two different personalities, his reality and his shield.

Which is powerfully juxtaposed against the reality and defense mechanism of Alice, as when she becomes the subject of the ‘bullies’ torment, she shows her true utmost helpless self, and recoils in to an almost fetal position as a her ‘bubble’ of safety from the outside world.

The audience are most likely going to have a mixed reaction to the protagonist, mainly down to the Director’s choice of how to represent the character, as Luke, is not what you would call societies accepted norm. But the way that the inexperienced, ACTORS NAME, depicts the character to the audience, as a subverted expectation, awash with emotion and grandeur. Cross rolls with the punches of his actor’s performances mainly because they help the overall intent of the film, which is to make society, otherwise known as the audience look at themselves and what is happening in the younger generation they created. It may sound incredibly clichéd but it’s a valid point. Parents don’t know what their child is like, or they turn a blind eye to it and there needs to be change. The change itself is not evident in a parental context within the piece, but the protagonist’s story, a tale of self defense, romance, displays of power and displays of aggression all entwined in to one leads to a pivotal moment of mental change from a physical catalyst.

Luke and Alice as primary and secondary ‘main’ characters blend and mesh together, almost like the fabric of a jumper, they have slight similarities in tastes, yet their differences in personality is what brings them together, plus the supporting roles of the group members when they ‘bully’ each character  in turn, makes the story seem so much more believable. The acting for amateurs was really convincing despite no prior experience being in front of a camera, although the choice of the near penultimate scene was a bad choice, it was so revenge cliché it brought the whole story down. However, the film was lifted by it’s up to date representation of teenagers, their culture, their style and their mode of address, it added to the story, and therefore added to the enjoyment of the viewer. It also raised some issues about British culture; TBC doesn’t really stick to the norm of British cinema, although it depicts a realistic representation of a failing British education system, raises the whole failure and destruction ideas again.

TBC is what you could call a dark horse, it is a bold, brave, step in to an interesting, frowned upon area, but it does it in such an upfront, real, digestible way, it makes an eye opening watch.