Archive of films Bullet Boy / Bullet Boy
United Kingdom
2004, 89 min
Section:
Focus on British Film (2000-2005)
Year: 2006
A strong talented cast headed by Ashley Walters and authentic dialogues characterise this tragic drama about machismo, weapons and the experiences of poor “black” London.
Synopsis
Documentary-maker Saul Dibb and his co-scriptwriter Catherine R. Johnson, a former writer-in-residence at London’s Holloway Women’s Prison, bring an authentic edge to gritty drama Bullet Boy. Ashley Walters, who in real life served seven months at an offenders’ institute for gun possession, plays Ricky, 19, who is determined not to fall back into destructive patterns having returned fresh from custody to his home in east London’s Hackney. But when his best friend Wisdom hands him a gun and draws him into a conflict with some local youths, a break with the past looks an ever more dim prospect. His long-suffering mum despairs for his future, and is determined that her impressionable 12-year-old son Curtis (non-professional actor Luke Fraser) follow a different path to Ricky. Strong performances and authentic dialogue elevate this tragedy-tinged drama about machismo, gun crime and the impoverished black London experience.
About the director
Saul Dibb (b. 1968, London) followed in the footsteps of his father, TV documentary filmmaker Mike Dibb, carving out his own reputation with factual films tackling gritty, controversial subjects: shoplifters (Lifters), life on the streets of inner-city London (Electric Avenue), a porn actress and her manager-partner (Easy Money), and a notorious British Islamic fundamentalist (Tottenham Ayatollah). Dibb followed Bullet Boy, his debut feature, with the three-part TV series The Line of Beauty, adapted from Alan Hollinghurst’s Booker Prize-winning novel of the same name, in which the worlds of gay hedonism and the Conservative establishment collide in Thatcher-era west London.
Contacts
British Council
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 207 389 3067
Fax: +44 207 389 3175
E-mail: [email protected]
www: www.britishcouncil.org/film
Portman Film and Television
21-25 St. Anne's Court, W1F 0BJ, London
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 207 494 8024
Fax: +44 207 494 2046
E-mail: [email protected]
www: www.portmanfilm.com
About the film
Color, 35 mm
Section: | Focus on British Film (2000-2005) |
---|---|
Director: | Saul Dibb |
Screenplay: | Saul Dibb, Catherine R. Johnson |
Dir. of Photography: | Marcel Zyskind |
Music: | Robert Del Naja, Neil Davidge |
Editor: | Masahiro Hirakubo, John Mister |
Producer: | Marc Boothe, Ruth Caleb |
Production: | Shine Entertainment Ltd. |
Cast: | Ashley Walters, Luke Fraser, Leon Black, Claire Perkins, Curtis Walker |
Contact: | British Council, Portman Film and Television |
www: | www.bulletboy.net |
Guests
Geraldine Higgins
Ruth Caleb
Producer