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Tamer Hassan makes his way across Millennium Bridge in City Rats |
Behind the scenes of our rat race
CITY RATS
Directed by Steve M Kelly
Certificate 15
IT’S hard to spot a cult classic before it’s been released, but this film has enough underhand shenanigans, interesting characters and gritty happenings for it to find a niche with those who like their films on the edgy side.
Laid out a little like Robert Altman’s study of a weekend in Los Angeles, City Rats tells the stories of a seemingly disparate group of people, all with a heap of trouble on their shoulders. Director Steve Kelly gradually reveals how they are linked and what becomes of them.
These personal stories cover a vast range and individually would perhaps be enough to warrant a film of their own. We meet the middle-aged depressive who is considering suicide yet does not quite know how to do it, a prostitute trying to earn a living, an artist looking for inspiration, a recently released convict with a dark secret, the mother searching for information on her missing son, and the brothers with sex on their minds. However, the bite-sized stories are so well crafted that the lack of background on each individual does not matter – viewers are credited with enough gumption to fill in the gaps themselves.
The film takes huge chunky bites out of a whole load of unapproachable issues. One story that stands out it that of a gay man? who is deaf, unable to speak and has autism. His brother wants to help him be sexually fulfilled, but this raises issues about consent.
Above all, this film is about the teeming metropolis of modern London, and the fact that every one of us who shares these streets has a story of our own to tell.
This is no city recognisable to those who voted for Boris and enjoy a Marks and Spencer ready meal in front of a Richard Curtis flick. Instead, we see different stories of real Londoners.
At times, it feels hard to follow, but it all makes sense at the end. And what carries it forward are the incredible performances from all concerned.
It would be unfair to single out any particular individual – the cast of Danny Dyer, Tamer Hassan, Myanna Buring, Ray Panthaki, Natasha Williams and Susan Lynch all excel in their quirky roles. Tough, watchable, thoughtful – City Rats has that stamp of a future cult classic. |
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