The action begins pre-credits with a stark and disturbing scene of rampaging youths on a motorcycle performing mindless acts of violence, filmed by themselves on a camera phone. The image appears almost like a first-person shoot-em-up with a pistol projected away from the camera. The victim of the crime is a wholly innocent and indefensible mother pushing her baby’s pram. The noise of the gun is incredibly loud, and is only surpassed in shock factor by the end of the scene. The photography throughout is handled with aplomb by Martin Ruhe, incorporating handheld shots with great effect.
The next scene sees Caine, asleep and alone in his bed in his run-down flat. He looks every inch the old man that he now is in real life, testament to a performance that refuses to suffer from an ounce of vanity. His face is wrinkled, his hands large and mottled and his voice graver than usual. We observe the minutiae of his impoverished life as an old man alone in his council flat, the cold toast, the hot tea, the dripping tap monotonous as his subsistence.
For me, this introduction to our anti-hero is almost as shocking as the brutality of the opening scene itself. We simply have not seen Caine portraying such a fragile looking character before. Caine looks old. Everything about him appears frail, in direct contrast to the stoic, stiff upper-lipped gentleman that he has played in recent years.
Once a Marine serving in Northern Ireland, Harry now spends his days visiting his ailing wife in hospital, playing chess with his old mate Len (played sympathetically by David Bradley) in the local pub and visiting the grave of his late daughter. Harry refuses to talk about his time in the service, it all being ‘a long time ago, a lifetime ago’, and is irritated when Len asks if he ever ‘killed anyone’. His answer hides the truth, but reveals what is most important to him. He knew he had to give up that life, and all thought of it, when he met and married his beloved wife Cathy.
It is in this same scene that the severity of the problems on the estate that Harry and Len live is exemplified when a drug deal is made quite openly in the pub in front of the landlord. Harry and Len go to the gents before leaving and Len reveals that he is ‘Scared… all the time’ of the youths that bully him on the estate. When Len reveals to Harry that he plans to strike back against the youths that torment him daily and shows him the long bayonet blade that used to belong to his father, Harry begs him to go to the police, but a traumatised Len shouts back as he leaves in anger that he already has.
This short scene decries one of the films biggest problems – the police are consistently portrayed as uncaring and snotty (Chris Wilson as Assistant Chief Constable Ladlow), caring but completely toothless (see Emily Mortimer as Sergeant Frampton) or utterly moronic (Iain Glen as Officer Childs). This lack of substance may be down to the writing courtesy of screenwriter Gary Young, rather than the acting; however it does impact quite profoundly on the film. It could also be argued that with a police force that seemed anymore involved in the action on the estate then the whole premise of ‘One man will take a stand’, as the tagline announces, would be groundless.
After Len is killed mercilessly by the young thugs he approaches in an underpass, Caine literally digs out his box of memories of his other life in the marines and decides, after the police prove impotent, to take on the gang himself and seek revenge for the death of his last friend in the world. The change from old codger to assassin is rather immediate and somewhat implausible, which could lead less sympathetic audiences to further question the film’s awkward claims of verisimilitude.
This leads to my only other major gripe about the picture. The question of how the audience can side with the vigilante, as the law is quite clearly not on Harry Brown’s side. This could have been answered quite easily and convincingly if the people that he is battling against are shown as purely malevolent; however the youth’s backgrounds aren’t quite fleshed out enough. It is testament to the acting, particularly of Ben Drew (aka rapper Plan B) who plays a character so repugnant I wondered how much of it was acting, of the young performers that their characters are memorable, rather than just cannon fodder for the aged Brown.
There a multiple standout scenes in the film, most notably when Caine’s character - after noting from his new base of operations in Len’s abandoned and burnt out flat, that the youths all carry firearms - follows one of the drug dealers back to his hideout in order to buy a gun. An on form Sean Harris as the repulsive underworld merchant Stretch holds the screen incredibly well in probably the best scene of the film, pitting Caine’s fragility against Harris’ drug riddled wickedness in a sequence that holds true tension from beginning to end.
Critics have inevitably, and rather lazily, already dubbed Harry Brown as a British Gran Torino, but it is the combined power of high-quality cinematography, solid direction from Barber and impressive performances that give this British film an identity all of its own.
The film, for me at least, has more in common with Taxi Driver than the recent Eastwood outing of Gran Torino. The soundtrack is certainly reminiscent, as is the stark colour scheme and design employed by Kave Quinn. It’s obviously not just me who thought so, as word has it that when asked at MovieCon if he had copied aspects of Scorcese’s classic, Barber answered, ‘Of course, but if you’re going to nick stuff it might as well be from the best!’
Whether Harry Brown is realistic or fantastic (in the ‘Broken Britain’ vein that the Mail etc profusely proffer) is up for debate. Certainly the rise in youth crime, and especially violent and drug related crime inclusive of guns and knives will strike a resonant beat through most British audiences. The estate scenes certainly do not seem unfamiliar and the general layer of grime that coats the mise-en-scene would not be a giant leap to conceive for most viewers, especially those dwelling in cities.
Obviously the most contentious element will be could a 76 year old ex-marine really be up to the ‘job’ of being the one-man-army against gun-toting youths and manic drug dealers? To my mind, Caine convinces.
The idea that Harry Brown will be able to convince audiences on an international stage is perhaps less believable, although Caine’s name on the bill will draw enough ticket buyers to put this to the litmus test. The posters and stills from the film, probably deliberately, have made it seem like a mixture of Get Carter and something along the lines of Kidulthood. Plus the footage used in the trailer possibly makes the film seem a lot more action-orientated than it should, as to begin with the film burns slowly; it’s a good half hour before Caine goes apoplectic and it would do the subtleties of Caine’s performance an injustice.
Indeed. I don’t think that Harry Brown will go down in the annals as another Taxi Driver, but I do think that it is a well made film with many exceptional performances, from both young and old. Barber has made a big leap from music video territory to feature film and I believe his first effort is impressive. Perhaps the most laudable point is his treatment of violence in the film; it is neither glamourised nor stylised, but necessary.
In conclusion Harry Brown might not be the most realistic of vigilante films, or any kind of film for that matter, but as British films go I’d rather see Michael Caine panting about with a bag of guns than Hugh Grant guffawing his way through two hours of tosh or a load of millionaire kids tarting about with chopsticks.
Harry Brown, release date 13th November 2009, Lionsgate
8/10
One of the better British films of recent years, entertaining and thought provoking, whether you like it or not.
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