SYNOPSICS
A Way of Life (2004) is a English movie. Amma Asante has directed this movie. Stephanie James,Gary Sheppeard,Nathan Jones,Dean Wong are the starring of this movie. It was released in 2004. A Way of Life (2004) is considered one of the best Drama movie in India and around the world.
At 17 LeighAnne Williams has a six month old baby to look after, with only the help of three teenage squatters who flog stolen gear to make ends meet. A neighbour (actually from Turkey) across the street becomes target to her growing paranoia that Social Services are going to take her daughter, Rebecca, away from her. Her behavior becoming increasingly desperate as her delusions over her neighbor grow. She convinces Steven, Gavin, and Robbie he needs a lesson.
A Way of Life (2004) Reviews
a remarkable achievement
A Way of Life I was not prepared for what I seen in this film. I went into this with the impression that it was going to be some movie about struggling teenagers who turn out alright in the end. I thought that I would leave the cinema saying, 'well that was nothing special.' I was completely wrong. It was one of the best films I've seen all year. Directed by first timer Amma Asante, it is the harsh truth of the state of lower class citizens, one of the most important messages ever sent out of a film. You will leave more determined to be a better parent in the future. The film draws you in straight away as it begins with a gang of teenagers physically assaulting a middle aged man in the middle of the street. The ferociousness of the beating their giving out made me sit up straight away and take notice. The film then travels back to the events leading up to this attack. At the beginning we are introduced to Leigh-Anne (Stephanie James). Leigh-Anne is a frustrated, angry teenage mother living in a council flat with no electricity. Her mother killed herself when Leigh was just a child and she also, along with her brother, suffered constant abuse form her father. So with only her brother and his two friends to support her, and with very little income coming in, times are hard for Leigh. Her only reason for living is her daughter Rebecca, and she will do anything, literally, to protect her. Her Grandmother Annette (Brenda Blethyn) feels that she would be more suited to look after Rebecca, which leads to several run ins between the two. Annette isn't the only person she has trouble with, due to her jealousy and racist standpoint, Leigh is involved in constant confrontations with Turk Hassan Osman (Oliver Haden). Another reason for this hatred towards Osman is Leigh is jealous of the relationship he has with his daughter Julie (Sara Gregory). In one scene we see an example of the lengths Rebecca will go to help her daughter- no matter how brutal. She acts as a pimp to gain £30 off a man who comes looking for sexual service. Rather than have sex with the man herself, she convinces a girl younger than herself, to seal the deal. "Just open your legs and let him do the rest'. It is one of the most startling and shocking scenes of the film. Leigh's brother Gavin (Nathan Jones), and his two friends Robbie (Gary Sheppeard) and Stephen (Dean Wong), are always there for Leigh. But that usually involves crime and anti-social behaviour. The four of them as a group run riot and it's when they are together we see that despite being a committed mother, Leigh is far from an innocent little girl. Leigh is regularly visited by a social worker (Marged Esli), and after seeing her chatting to hated neighbour Hassan, she is convinced that Osman is plotting to get her baby taken away from her. One of the most significant parts of the film is when baby Julie is burned by a candle at home. This leads to a string of events that leads to the tragedy that we caught a glimpse of at the start. The aftermath of this is even more tragic. This is a film that will leave you thinking of the youth out there today and have you deciding whether or not you sympathies with Leigh Anne. I didn't. All the cast in this film played their roles very well but for me Stephanie James, in the role of Leigh-Anne, stood out for me. Not because she was the lead character but due to the fact that for someone making her on-screen debut and performing so well, I feel that that takes a lot and I'm pretty sure this will not be the last we see of her. Overall I feel that this is a must see film for all ages of 15 and up, I felt that it should have had an 18 certificate, if not for its stance as a very good movie, but for it's importance.
shockingly poor
It never ceases to amaze me how many times we see new film makers trying to make gritty films about people in the lower echelons of society. Problem is - Middle-class film makers haven't a clue about these people. This film was all about trying to shock the audience into submission. It may well shock your average middle-class viewer, for everyone else it was weak. Come on a couple of 8 stone kids killing an adult, and then not getting out of their blood stained clothes....Really? Crap! How this got a Bafta i'll never know. Must have been the middle-class judging panel. This is the problem with the British film industry. If its not a costume drama its about the lower classes. Film makers haven't a clue, so decide to make it up - and very poorly at that. It would have paid dividends if the film maker spent some time in a deprived area or estate in the present day - not claim they were brought up in one.
Remarkable film debut
A Way of Life is an extraordinary and disturbing film.It seems scarcely credible that the director is making her debut and the performances of the largely unknown cast so powerful and totally convincing.I would feel confident in asserting,for example, that the performance of Stephanie James in the central role of Leigh-Anne will stand comparison with those who will be honoured at the Oscar ceremony next month.Her portrayal of an attractive and intelligent young woman smouldering with racial hatred and frustration is one that will live in the memory .It is a film that gets under your skin and forces you to ask yourself some fundamental questions.How did these young people get to be the way they are? Is the connection between poverty and deprivation on the one hand and violence and cruelty on the other too facile,although it should be said that the film itself makes no such facile connection.The whole thing is unsettling and uncomfortable and you cannot take your eyes from the unfolding tragedy. By chance I had seen Clint Eastwood's accomplished Million Dollar Baby a couple of days before.Of the latter The Guardian's film critic,Peter Bradshaw, rightly remarked that,three-quarters of the way through, it delivers to the audience a right hook like Jack Dempsey.A Way of Life delivers a barrage of right and left hooks that leave one bruised and soul-searching as one emerges from the cinema.
This film just blew me out of the water!
This film blindsided me with it's authentic and powerful portrayal of life lived on the fringes of society. I recently saw this film at the Toronto International Film Festival and I was in awe of just how real and raw the performances were, by essentially first time actors. This was also the director's first feature film and it was as assured a piece of film making as I've seen. The story and direction reminded me very much of a Mike Leigh film. The story follows a young single mother struggling to survive in a society that has all but forgotten her. Along with her brother and his hooligan friends, they continue to make one bad decision after another. Their attempt to break the vicious cycle seems a near impossible task, but, director Amma Assante finds a way to empathize with her characters so that we see that ultimately we all have choices in our lives and must try to battle through the harsh and cruel realities that life throws our way. This story of tough street kids struggling to overcome both their environment and the people they have become is a harrowing and ultimately tragic story of forgotten youth.
Good material, wooden delivery
This film certainly had a lot of potential. The film certainly pulls no punches when it comes to portraying the main characters. We are shown their violence, racism and bigotry in depth. Not that they are averse to exploiting their own, as several episodes show. Whilst the main characters certainly have many unsavoury characteristics the film does allow time to explore what made them what they are. Many factors are highlighted, lack of stable partnerships, low self-esteem, lack of commitment, lack of parenting skills, drugs, unstable violent backgrounds, unemployment, discrimination and lack of opportunities. My main criticism of the film is not that it isn't well researched. The problem is in the production. The direction is so leaden and obvious. The characters have no space to develop and the director rams their points into your face. You could almost imagine that this was produced as a course material for a school sociology program. The camera-work and sound tract only reinforce this. The angles and shots are all so daytime TV, zooming into faces for close ups in those confrontation moments, giving the obligatory 2 second scenic scene setting shots at all the appropriate moments. Need I say that the soundtrack is hardly subtly or seamlessly enmeshed. All in all whilst this film has good intentions, good material and some good acting the whole thing feels poorly put together and ends up loosing a lot of its impact between the cracks in the production.