The Violators DVD Review

V3Shelly (McQueen) lives on an estate in the north of England. She has been forced there to escape her abusive father with her older and younger brothers. They are bullied and beaten by a local hood and his cronies but he has taken a shine to her. Now it seems he wants to look after her. He wants to save her from the grim reality of her world. The problem is Shelly doesnt want this. Now the local hoods daughter has made friends with her and this could lead to problems even his affections cant resolve.

V1Wow. I had a major issue with this film. It is a venture in poverty porn and poverty tourism. The whole story seems obsessed with the idea that entertainment can be gained from class struggles. This meditation on class and its manipulation by monied types is empty. It seemed more to be saying men are scum, poor women are victims, rich kids are lucky but not loved. This grit in the teeth I had from the start kept going and in the end I was unable to find a redemptive note. Usually you see kicthen sink cinema challenge the assumptions of middle class, white people. This enforces it and the Daily mail view poverty should be seen and those in it blamed.

V2The disc has some extras. Interviews add a note of tenderness to the whole. The deleted scene is like a whisper of something that might have been and the rest is empty headed…

Sorry I hated it…

 

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