Mangrove

Most historical courtroom dramas have some disadvantages built in - we all know the stories, we all know the formulas. But Mangrove manages to both follow and transcend those familiar formulas. It helps that American audience members like me may not know the case details all that well, of course. But it is the execution that really stands apart. The beats are predictable. The villainous establishment is melodramatic. But McQueen's flare for visual storytelling and brilliant sound editing allow him to find moments (and build tensions) we would have missed otherwise. Plus, the ensemble's powerful performances elevate every single scene. The movie and the stakes just keep building. That's what a great filmmaker can do.

The initial (and longest) of Director Steve McQueen's Small Axe anthology is set in the Notting Hill section of London in the late 60s/early 70s. Based on a true story of a clash between police and the Caribbean community and centered around a local restaurant, the case became known as the Mangrove Nine. McQueen and co-writer Alastair Siddons do a fine job of creating a feel for the time and place. The characters are fleshed out and given the space to become real persons instead of distant 'historical figures'. The screenplay does occasionally verge on preachiness, but, the acting by Shaun Parkes, Letitia Wright, Malachi Kirby and others keep it far enough away. The policemen are more stereotypical -- including the main villain, PC Pulley (Sam Spruell) -- but they are well acted, as well. The second half is dominated by a trial (there were multiple), and is a bit less interesting, if well enough handled. The problem of trying encapsulate a lot of incidents and twists and turns into a coherent hour or so, lead to some editing and writing issues. MANGROVE is a solid docu-drama and a good lead off to the Small Axe series.

As part of a BBC initiative that has lead to support stateside through Amazon: Prime, the Small Axe series has allowed Academy Award nominated director Steve McQueen a chance to explore five separate stories of West Indian immigrants to the UK in the 1960's and 70's with the series kicking off with a bang with the first installment titled Mangrove.

Based on the true story of the Mangrove 9, a group of black citizens in London who were unfairly charged with serious offenses relating to riot and affray when a protest they were a part of descended into chaos due to police interference, McQueen's first effort under the Small Axe banner is a powerful and humanistic tale that is relevant in today's climate and features some awards caliber performances from its leads Shaun Parkers and Letitia Wright.

Never once feeling like a made for TV production, McQueen embeds Mangrove with the same power and poignancy that he made his name with in films such as Shame and 12 Years a Slave and without ever beating his viewers over the head with heavy handed delivery, his film paints and insightful picture of a time and place in Britain's history that is filled with humanistic moments that both shatter your spirit in humankind and uplift it as the films central figures wade through an horrific ordeal to clear their names.

A long-term player in the industry both at home and abroad, Mangrove gives Shaun Parkes the role of his career as immigrant and new restaurant owner Frank Crichlow, a man whom local police have targeted unfairly throughout his desire to operate and run a legitimate business and Parkes excels throughout the film with a combination of intense final scenes in the film some of the best acting you're likely to witness this year, on a screen both big or small.

As well as McQueen's typically in tune direction accompanying Parkes fine central turn, Marvel star Letitia Wright proves she has what it takes to be a key player in Hollywood for years yet to come with her passionate turn as Black Panther member and outspoken black advocate Altheia Jones proving to all that there's more to the young performer than Shuri.

With such fine performances and careful and considered direction, this longest edition to the Small Axe series is potentially its finest and one of the years most powerful and relevant tales.

Final Say -

An important piece of storytelling for the time and place we find ourselves in at the moment, Mangrove is a fiery beginning for the Small Axe anthology and further proof that McQueen is one of the great directional talents working today.

4 street parties out of 5

Some great performances, Kirby as Darcus Howe particularly bringing to the life such a well-known figure. It's a TV movie so relatively light on production values, and some of the police characters were grotesquely cartoonish, but certainly a gripping two hours

Steve McQueen's new anthology series, Small Axe starts off strong with the first entry, Mangrove. In the first half of Mangrove, the story focuses mainly on Frank as his restaurant, The Mangrove is bombarded with unprovoked police attacks. This all culminates into a march where several of the activists are brought to appeal their cases in court, where the later half of the film takes place.

Throughout the film, McQueen implemented some great music choices, elevating whatever tone he was trying to achieve. He used this to great effect, scenes turning on a dime; going from fun and free flowing to dark and chaotic all through the use, or lack thereof, of music alongside with the expert staging that many scenes had. Shabier Kirchner's cinematography worked very well in conjunction with the staging, creating a naturalistic feel for the majority of the film as many scenes were done in one take. The performances in Mangrove complemented these one take scenes with Letitia Wright, Shaun Parkes, and Jodhi May all showing a very wide range of emotions.

Still though, this isn't a perfect film. The second half, which focuses mainly on a trial, felt slightly unoriginal just because this sequence of events has been done in countless films. The transitions from scene to scene were also very repetitive, most transitions being a hard cut to the next shot. At times this did work, but for the times that it didn't the film felt jarring at these moments.

All in all, though, Steve McQueen's Mangrove is a very well made look into the climate of 1970's England and the racism that many black people faced. This is one of the most important films of the year so, when it gets a wide release, I hope many people go and see it.

8/10