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My favourite british film that I can remember is "Rise of the Footsoldier". Directed by Julian Gibley, and written by Julian and Will Gibley.
The film follows the life of Carlton Leach, and follows his gang life, starting from his ranks as a "footsoldier" in the ICF, (Inter City Firm. A group of football hooligans) to his life as a member of one of the most notorious gangs in the London/Essex region, as one of the most feared criminals in the country, following three decades of his life.
"Rise of the Footsoldier" is primarily aimed at fans of traditional british gang films. Fands of films revolving around football hooligans would also most likely find this film appealing. The poster advertised the film as an action film due to most of the poster being taken up by a silhouette of a shotgun, and subtle, but noticable use of red. It seems to give a sense that it is a Mafia film however, and even though it is a gang film, it is certainly not a mafia film.
"Rise of the Footsoldier" is one of my favourite films, primarily due to the realism of the scenarios that take place, along with the excellent performance Ricci Harnett plays as the role of Carlton. Carlton is clearly a "tough guy" but as the film goes on, it becomes clearer that he regretted his decision to take the gang route he taken, and Ricci fills that role very well.
Another technique that lends itself to the realism of the film is down to the camerawork. dueing dislogue scenes and such it is stationary, as standard, but when action takes place or something particularly vioent happens, it switches to handheld camera shots, and starts using POV shots a lot more, which make scenes like this almost feel like they came from a documentary, and with the overall premise of the film, it almost could be. Again, excellent performance from the actors in these scene really lend to the whole "Documentary-ness" of them.
The film isn't without its flaws however. Some of the scenes seem to be too ridiculous to be realistic, such as one scene where Pat Tate (Played by Craig Fairbrass) attacks a Pizza takeaway and kills the clerk because he wouldn't give him the pizza his girlfriend ordered.
Unfortunately, Most other opinions do not reflect this, as the film was poorly recieved by many critics. Rotten Tomatoes gave the film 14%, with reviews saying things like "Footsoldier doesn't so much pack a punch as leave you feeling violated" and "Ugly". Due to this, it has not been nominated for any awards. IMDB gave the film an average score of 6.8 out of 10. There have been positive reviews about it however, "Rise of the Foot Soldier doesn't let up for a second and holds its own as a 'balls out', 'in yer face' thrill ride".
The film follows the life of Carlton Leach, and follows his gang life, starting from his ranks as a "footsoldier" in the ICF, (Inter City Firm. A group of football hooligans) to his life as a member of one of the most notorious gangs in the London/Essex region, as one of the most feared criminals in the country, following three decades of his life.
"Rise of the Footsoldier" is primarily aimed at fans of traditional british gang films. Fands of films revolving around football hooligans would also most likely find this film appealing. The poster advertised the film as an action film due to most of the poster being taken up by a silhouette of a shotgun, and subtle, but noticable use of red. It seems to give a sense that it is a Mafia film however, and even though it is a gang film, it is certainly not a mafia film.
"Rise of the Footsoldier" is one of my favourite films, primarily due to the realism of the scenarios that take place, along with the excellent performance Ricci Harnett plays as the role of Carlton. Carlton is clearly a "tough guy" but as the film goes on, it becomes clearer that he regretted his decision to take the gang route he taken, and Ricci fills that role very well.
Another technique that lends itself to the realism of the film is down to the camerawork. dueing dislogue scenes and such it is stationary, as standard, but when action takes place or something particularly vioent happens, it switches to handheld camera shots, and starts using POV shots a lot more, which make scenes like this almost feel like they came from a documentary, and with the overall premise of the film, it almost could be. Again, excellent performance from the actors in these scene really lend to the whole "Documentary-ness" of them.
The film isn't without its flaws however. Some of the scenes seem to be too ridiculous to be realistic, such as one scene where Pat Tate (Played by Craig Fairbrass) attacks a Pizza takeaway and kills the clerk because he wouldn't give him the pizza his girlfriend ordered.
Unfortunately, Most other opinions do not reflect this, as the film was poorly recieved by many critics. Rotten Tomatoes gave the film 14%, with reviews saying things like "Footsoldier doesn't so much pack a punch as leave you feeling violated" and "Ugly". Due to this, it has not been nominated for any awards. IMDB gave the film an average score of 6.8 out of 10. There have been positive reviews about it however, "Rise of the Foot Soldier doesn't let up for a second and holds its own as a 'balls out', 'in yer face' thrill ride".
