View Single Post
  #38632  
Old 16th October 2016, 11:45 AM
Frankie Teardrop's Avatar
Frankie Teardrop Frankie Teardrop is offline
Cultist on the Rampage
 
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Leeds, UK
Default

K-SHOP – A young economics grad inherits his dad's take away and decides, out of duty or grief, to take on the mantle of kebab facilitator for the drunken hordes of Bournemouth. He's sickened by what he finds in the provinces – binge drinkers puking in the street with their knobs out, metaphorically and otherwise. A night out in Bournemouth might be like a night out anywhere else, but, out there on the front line with racist abuse shouted in his face into the small hours, this guy is reaching the end of his tether... something's gotta give. After a young chav takes a step too far, K-guy connects with his inner Sweeney Todd and reaches for the cleaver... 'K-Shop' is a really interesting film. For a start, it brings one particular corner of English malaise, namely the whole city centre hen do binge drink tragedy thing, to the silver screen (well, the direct-to-DVD screen) when hitherto it had only been glimpsed in documentaries about Newcastle and Blackpool. It combines this fixation on English slime with harsh, gory slasher-cum-Travis Bickle type antics. Down at heel Brit realism and graphic gore, that's my thing. And 'K-Shop', during its overlong runtime, really does deliver something quite compelling for the first hour or so. Then it slips up. Characters are introduced to provide relationship interests, 'human angles' and social themes when pathos and critique were already well in the mix. Two films emerge – one, a vicious slasher doused in sleaze with a socio-political edge, the other a kind of channel four-esque tale of young marginalised people trying to get by and relate in a harsh economic climate. Theoretically that could be fine, but the 'horror' aspect here is driven and dynamic, whereas the 'drama' element is bland and slows things down. The cynical part of me wonders which film the director really wanted to make, but sticking them together in this way was a refreshingly odd choice at least. As well, certain quarters have portrayed 'K-Shop' as being anti-working class in its depiction of unbridled end-of-the-week passions, although the use of this in the film is opportunistic rather than moralistic, it seems to me. Oh well. The whole is well made with good performances, and pacing issues only start to emerge when the film takes a nap and decides to go 'Eastenders'. As it stands, 'K-Shop' is an interesting debut that excites and infuriates at the same time. At its best it has the vibe of a contemporary Pete Walker film about it, that mix of exploitation, dour Britishness and ambiguous social commentary. I'd definitely give it a watch as it's very different in tone and execution to the usual DVD fodder out there, and I'm curious as to what the makers do next.
Reply With Quote