I've been meaning to talk about this on the show for the last couple of weeks but haven't had the time, so just in case I don't get the time this week, I thought I would write about it as well.
Every once in a while, a film comes along that renders me basically, mute. This is rare, but it happens.
The first was Steve McQueen's 'Hunger', the second was Larry Clark's 'Bully', and in September of last year, Antony Petrou's 'We Are Monster', joined that list.
'We Are Monster' is the beautifully written, heart shattering, hidden gem of the last few years, even the last decade.
Like I always say - very few films stop me in my tracks, and certainly not to the point of silence, but this 100% succeeded.
We are told, in flash back, the story of the true life murder of British Asian teenager Zahid Mubarek, who was viciously killed by his cell mate, Robert Stewart, at Feltham Young Offenders Institution in 2000.
I didn't even catch wind of this film until a certain person asked to meet me and I thought I'd better do some background research into his production company - I'm glad I did so, because I found this wonderfully hypnotic and sadly underrated, snippet of what British Cinema is largely about - gritty, truthful, stripped back, story telling.
Written by and starring the ridiculously talented, Leeshon Alexander (who I shamelessly complimented on Twitter so he'd talk to me - I meant what I said, I swear!) who we recently saw playing the delightfully psychotic, Hugs in Noel Clarke's absolute corker, 'Brotherhood'.
As a writer and someone who has a good few years of performing arts training under her belt, I cant help but feel a slight pang of envy when I see something like this achieved, I like to think that if I had an original idea in my head, I'd have worked hard enough to achieve the same - time will tell I suppose. Things like this certainly do inspire me to work harder, so thank you.
Its quite something to witness a writer perform his or her own words and I think this very much adds to the impact of the film - he does a gob smacking job of playing the quiet psycho; the unassuming mental case that I love so much - give me Norman Bates over Freddie Kruger any day.
The film is unique in the way the story is told; basically we see the antagonist engaging in conversation with alternate versions of himself, subtly highlighted by changes in uniform colour and use of POV and close camera shots, which represent the multiple personalities and the schizophrenic nature of Robert Stewart.
The dialogue heavy and beautifully crafted sequences are interspersed with snippets of Robert Stewart's horrendous childhood and the careless, cursory involvement of the prison staff, that led to this completely unnecessary tragedy.
I think we truly get to see inside the mind of a seriously disturbed young man and without making slanderous assumptions about the mental state of our remarkable writer, I think we can safely say that this is a product of hard work and meticulous research (not insanity) coupled with mind blowing talent and immense bravery.
The overtly racist nature of this film is not merely an undertone as we usually see, its the life's blood of the movie and when I mention bravery, I am talking about every single person involved in this film.
This is by no means a film for the masses, because of its subject matter and savagely jarring language, but I really do feel that it has had nowhere near the recognition it deserves.
Thankfully the Netflix gods have done something to try and remedy this. PLEASE go and watch it.
If you are easily offended, this is even more important for you to watch and to have your eyes opened to the world around you.
I am literally so blinded by the writing, the acting, the score, the understated cinematography, that if there are faults here, I can't even begin to see them.
Every once in a while, a film comes along that renders me basically, mute. This is rare, but it happens.
The first was Steve McQueen's 'Hunger', the second was Larry Clark's 'Bully', and in September of last year, Antony Petrou's 'We Are Monster', joined that list.
'We Are Monster' is the beautifully written, heart shattering, hidden gem of the last few years, even the last decade.
Like I always say - very few films stop me in my tracks, and certainly not to the point of silence, but this 100% succeeded.
We are told, in flash back, the story of the true life murder of British Asian teenager Zahid Mubarek, who was viciously killed by his cell mate, Robert Stewart, at Feltham Young Offenders Institution in 2000.
I didn't even catch wind of this film until a certain person asked to meet me and I thought I'd better do some background research into his production company - I'm glad I did so, because I found this wonderfully hypnotic and sadly underrated, snippet of what British Cinema is largely about - gritty, truthful, stripped back, story telling.
Written by and starring the ridiculously talented, Leeshon Alexander (who I shamelessly complimented on Twitter so he'd talk to me - I meant what I said, I swear!) who we recently saw playing the delightfully psychotic, Hugs in Noel Clarke's absolute corker, 'Brotherhood'.
As a writer and someone who has a good few years of performing arts training under her belt, I cant help but feel a slight pang of envy when I see something like this achieved, I like to think that if I had an original idea in my head, I'd have worked hard enough to achieve the same - time will tell I suppose. Things like this certainly do inspire me to work harder, so thank you.
Its quite something to witness a writer perform his or her own words and I think this very much adds to the impact of the film - he does a gob smacking job of playing the quiet psycho; the unassuming mental case that I love so much - give me Norman Bates over Freddie Kruger any day.
The film is unique in the way the story is told; basically we see the antagonist engaging in conversation with alternate versions of himself, subtly highlighted by changes in uniform colour and use of POV and close camera shots, which represent the multiple personalities and the schizophrenic nature of Robert Stewart.
The dialogue heavy and beautifully crafted sequences are interspersed with snippets of Robert Stewart's horrendous childhood and the careless, cursory involvement of the prison staff, that led to this completely unnecessary tragedy.
I think we truly get to see inside the mind of a seriously disturbed young man and without making slanderous assumptions about the mental state of our remarkable writer, I think we can safely say that this is a product of hard work and meticulous research (not insanity) coupled with mind blowing talent and immense bravery.
The overtly racist nature of this film is not merely an undertone as we usually see, its the life's blood of the movie and when I mention bravery, I am talking about every single person involved in this film.
This is by no means a film for the masses, because of its subject matter and savagely jarring language, but I really do feel that it has had nowhere near the recognition it deserves.
Thankfully the Netflix gods have done something to try and remedy this. PLEASE go and watch it.
If you are easily offended, this is even more important for you to watch and to have your eyes opened to the world around you.
I am literally so blinded by the writing, the acting, the score, the understated cinematography, that if there are faults here, I can't even begin to see them.