A Way of Life

Colour, 35 mm
United Kingdom, 2004, 91 min
Section: Another View
Oficiální stránky: www.awayoflifemovie.com

Synopsis

One might accurately characterise modern British cinema as full of stress, frustration and racial tension. Amma Asante?s debut is part of that trend, but despite the heroine’s racist displays, she is not unsympathetic. Leigh-Anne (played by talented new discovery Stephanie James) lives in industrial Wales. She is barely 18 but already an unmarried mother. Although she knows that life is a constant struggle, she truly loves her little girl and doesn’t want to give her up. Leigh-Anne has friends who try to help out a little, but malice still manages to grow inside her, inside her brother and her friends, too. The focus of their anger is a more affluent Turkish family living in the neighbourhood.... One of the film’s supporting roles is played by Brenda Blethyn, who’s performance in Secrets and Lies earned her a Best Actress Award from Cannes and the Golden Globes, and an Oscar nomination.

About the director

Amma Asante grew up in Streatham in South London, and in 1980-86 attended the Barbara Speake Stage School where she studied dance and drama. She started her film and television career as a child star (e.g. the series "Grange Hill," "Desmonds" and "Birds of a Feather"), then began writing scripts in her twenties, mainly for Channel 4 television. At age 28, she became the first black woman in the UK to both write and "Brothers and Sisters" for BBC2. A Way of Life (2004) is her directorial debut. "I’m black and I’m a woman, and I can identify with other human beings," Asante says. "But for me to be able to identify with a character who was ultimately going to express quite racist views, the easiest way was to make her fairly young and make her a woman."