"Small Axe: Mangrove"- Movie Review
The first episode of Steve McQueen's ("12 Years A Slave", "Hunger", "Shame") epic film anthology, "Small Axe: Mangrove", is yet another excellent entry for McQueen's masterful film catalog. While not as adventurous or risky as the setup initially implies, "Mangrove" proves that a straightforward formula can work just as well. Aside from some minor annoyances, this true story of the Mangrove nine is a salient and necessary story to tell for future generations.
During the late '60s to early '70s, a clash between the corrupt London, England Metropolitan Police Department and a small community of West Indie immigrants reaches a climactic boiling point, leading to a historical, 55-day court trial.
McQueen captures a time and place like no other filmmaker. The pure chaos that ensues from moment to moment is an invigorating education on the suppression and racism that plagued the West Indies community in Mangrove. It's pure eye-popping poetry, and performances by Shaun Parkes and Letitia Wright compliment its relevant script by Alastair Siddons and McQueen with a sparkling vigor. Fairly represented and frequently thrilling, it's hard to critique its passionate narrative and unrivaled perspective. But unfortunately, while we are subject to a terrific beginning, its courtroom segments tend to lag behind a film attempting to break cliche. While it's not ruined by the inclusion of predictable tropes, the fluidity of its passion gets interrupted.
Such high doses of brewing energy and enlightenment are able to overtake any of its minor, yet noticeable, faults. Each character overcomes their own personal obstacles with a realism that examines a large array of individualistic climaxes. McQueen's five-episode anthology series is a mandatory, educational viewing of a society's ugly past.
Comments
Post a Comment