So I stayed up to watch The Plague on BBC2. It was showing as part of the Summer Of British Film. I had heard of this film a couple of years ago and was curious in seeing it. I have to save I wasn’t too impressed with it. I know it was the director’s first feature and they have done really well with this no budget feature yet I didn’t like it.

The story goes that four friends, who are wise guys, hustlers peddling drugs and living it up. They make a mistake, get in over their heads and of course you know it is not going to end well for one of them.

I found it difficult to follow what was happening. A lot of the time you couldn’t hear what people were saying. A lot of the time you couldn’t see what was happening. I only knew what was happening because the scenarios in this film were taken from other films. The film reminded me of much better examples of this genre. They use a DJ like in Do The Right Thing. The overlapping dialogue is reminiscent  of a John Altman film. Other films that I was reminded of was Mean Streets, City of God, Bullet Boy and Mike Leigh films. Though this doesn’t work because you are reminded how good these other films are.

I don’t know what plague the film is referring to? Drugs. Crime. Police. Teenagers. Parents. Police. Life. It never answers this question. There is an opening title sequence when clips from TV, including anti-war, flash on the screen, yet has no baring on the film. The end credits are pictures of space from the Hubble Space Telescope, pretty as they are,  again has no bearing on the film.

The main actors were natural, and work well together. You do feel that they have been friends for years. But I didn’t really care for them. They all seem to be too happy with their situation. With those films I mention there is a character trying to get out. To better themselves and get out of the ghetto. Maybe it is consider it a cliché, the character who wants out, but I say this - if there is no one to route for, why should we care what happens to these characters. Which the answer is no. Actually, there wasn’t any likable characters.

There is some style to this film and the director Greg Hall shows some promise, imagine that’s why the film has done so well, but the film is a mess. If it wasn’t in a genre that is well known, you wouldn’t be able to follow it. A film I can’t recommend.