At some times amusing and at others horrific, "About July" examines a month or so in the life of a fourteen year-old boy with big aspirations that eventually come crashing down on him. We watch him rehearsing phrases in the mirror, attempting to construct the perfect gangster identity in scenes reminiscent of "Boogie Nights" and "La Haine."
Early in the film, the boy is given a chance to work for a local gangster Ah Ming and becomes the doorman and lookout for his illegal gambling house. While there he picks up smoking, much to his mother's chagrin and also begins to develop an interest in women (he begins to spy on the different gangsters as they bed their women in the back room). However, he also picks up a lack of respect for women as demonstrated in the way that he treats his mother and grandmother. In this aspect, and through the frequent use of point of view shots) the filmmaker provides a strikingly unglorious and almost dirty depiction of the mind (and actions) of a pubescent male.
I really liked that this film focused on a brief but important time in the young boy's life. It sets it apart from other films that examine the life of gangsters that have more of an "epic" cast to their narratives. The story is very straightforward, which allows for the main character to be highly developed. And as a whole, he is a mixture of both likeable and unlikeable traits. I would hesitate to call the film realist but I would say that it is a breath of fresh air from the sensationalistic portrayals of gangster life that are the norm in the genre (not that there is anything wrong with those films).
