WARNING. This is not an easy film to watch.
Not that is if you have any sense whatsoever of the concept of right or wrong.
Basically as the blurb will tell you, it is the story of a black man who on the night that Thatcher is first elected is taken into custody and questioned by two white police officers after his wife has been found dead.
Watching this movie, you are immediately aware that this is not going to be a fluffy Sandra Bullock type film and that opening scenes of the stark set is indicative of what you are about to watch.
Throughout the next 90 minutes my emotions then went from being really, really scared to being incandescent with rage and then with upset, disbelief and being completely overwhelmed being thrown in for good measure along the way.
Rafe Spall is getting a reputation for quality performances and here is no exception. His portrayal of the bullying D.C. is scary but at least you have an idea of what he is going to do next. The stand-out performance for me however is Ralph Brown as the D.S. where I felt the hairs on the back of my neck go into over-drive whenever he looked at the suspect also played (almost under-played) superbly by Clint Dyer. It was as if Brown was going to literally explode at any moment! After this I genuinely this I would be reluctant to meet Brown the actor let alone D S Karn the police man.
This was originally a play apparently written at the time of the '79 election but I think the film which came out in 2010 now probably has even more resonance for anyone who has lived through the past 20 years in the UK with the real-life horror in the way in which the Police have treated black people (including victims) after the Stephen Lawrence and Damilola Taylor murder cases.
It may be because of these terrible real-life events that right at the start of the film as soon as suspect Leon Delroy is brought in, one feels that there is a sense of injustice about this. There is however also a feeling of there being a "twist" at the end; it has that kind of "feel" about it. However I would have to say that even I could not have predicted what happens as this film progresses and nor guessed its conclusion.
It basically takes us through the interview process but is much, much more than that. It is also indicative of a whole nation's attitude towards race, society, politics, the police etc at the late '70s in microcosm. I normally hate juxtapositions but this is done so cleverly and is integral as to why this film is just so good. The joy of the bigoted police officers over their prospective new and glorious leader is done with fine touch of subtlety and is in sharp contrast to the tension in that interview room. It just works so well.
My only slight criticism of this film was the interview room itself. Not that I have a great deal of experience of them personally but I could not quite get over how large the room was as I always imagine these rooms to have just about enough room to fit a table and four chairs (based I must admit on episodes of "The Bill and those snippets of real-life interviews that you see on the news after someone is convicted) but this was more sports hall than interview room. However this really is a very very minor quibble and does nothing to detract from this fantastic film.
It is clearly no blockbuster, it is often very uncomfortable to watch, but it is simply just a good story-line with three of the best examples of the craft of acting (four if you count Anjela Smith as the dead wife - which she did well enough) you will ever see.
I have watched many thousands of films in my life and would even admit to being one of those "they-don't-make-them-like-they-used-to-do" snobs but I would put this in my top ten and very possibly even the best film I ever seen.
Don't miss it.
