Young Soul Rebels

This film may be 11 years old, but did they have to get a 40 year old copy of it? The images were scratchy and the sound was crap... don't know if it was the film stock or just the director. He obviously has no clue about lighting. Yes he put little spotlights in the car, but it wasn't enough when filming black people at night, out doors or even in the large, shadow-y garages and lofts the characters seem to habituate.

The characterizations of the lager louts kickin' it down at the estate where one of the DJs lives were spot on, as were the yardie mechanics and the middle class punks slumming it in the ghetto.

The ending was trite and ruined by extraneous exposition. The technical flaws eclipsed many parts of this film that I might have enjoyed. I wish Isaac Julian would have picked background music OR dialogue, not both at equal volume simultaneously. I was the only one laughing to several of the jokes and the guys sitting next to me asked about them after the film. It's hard for Americans to understand a lot of the accents, especially with all of the fast, snide comments covered in music. The political undertones were a bit overwhelming to the story at times, especially when the characters started making speachs, but I suppose for the time period it covered that's to be expected.

I think it may have been innovative for the time, but now it seems really dated. Which is fine for a period piece, but I still don't understand why it won the critics prize at Cannes when it debuted.

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