Sixteen

Hello hello!

So this week I've been awfully arty farty and attended a premier screening of the debut feature film from Rob Brown: Sixteen.

Caption?

Sixteen is an urban drama/thriller about soon-to-be sixteen year old Jumah, who lives in London with his adoptive mother Laura, an aid worker who managed to get him out of the Congo where he lived as a child solider. Trying to start fresh and to leave his violent past behind, Jumah dreams of being a barber; however a spanner gets thrown into the works when Jumah finds himself with a target on his back when he and his best friend witness some events they shouldn't have involving the resident drug dealer.

I think the technical term for the plot for this film is: "shit goes down." Shit hits the fan very quickly and things begin to escalate out of hand at an alarming pace and at the centre of this is Jumah. He is the main character of this story, and the story relies heavily upon actor Roger Jean Nsengiyumva to tell it. Roger, whose acting credits on IMDb is shockingly small, is a name to watch. A few years down the line, he is going to be a household name, I'm calling it now. For someone who had only acted in one project preceding Sixteen, he commands an impressive screen presence; one that says 'I am here now, shut up and watch me.', but not in a loud and brass way, in a subtle way that means that you can't help but be drawn in by him. Jumah is a character who finds it difficult to express himself vocally, meaning Roger has to rely on his body to communicate to the audience everything that is going on in his head, to great success. 

Fluffy jacket looks fluffy.

The film itself looks gorgeous. Despite the small budget raised through a Kickstarter Campaign, the film was shot using the camera and lens from the latest Bond film, director Rob Brown disclosed during a Q & A after the screening, where he really hammered home the importance of connections within the film industry. It's all about who you know. With a bleak palette of the concrete jungle in which the film is set and the, well, bleakness, it reflects greatly on the subject matter. This isn't a happy film, it is quiet, understated and it takes its time, with just enough pockets of unexpected violence to keep you on your toes. A tough watch for a half-awake Rhona at ten in the morning. 

The characters for the most part are well developed and well written. Occasionally I felt the audience might lose touch with Jumah as, like I mentioned earlier, he is a character who doesn't rely on words particularly often, so his actions may not be immediately understood by the viewers, which does get frustrating at points, but is quelled by a satisfying pay-off. The drug dealer emits a quiet sinister quality which, when things start to unravel, becomes very unsettling. I wanted to have a special mention for the performances by Jumah's best friend and the minion of the drug dealer who attends Jumah's life, both of whom I unfortunately cannot seem to find either of the actors or their characters names on IMDb, but I felt both of them gave great performances, and both of which were also very well written. I also found Jumah's tentative relationship with his new girlfriend Chloe (Rosie Day) an interesting watch, as she begins to realise that this person she has always perceived as 'gentle' may not be accurate. 

I'd say this was an accurate depiction of the colour palette.

Of course this is not to say that the film is not without it's flaws. Like I said earlier, there are times where Jumah becomes disconnected from the audience - he has decided that there is no-one in his life he can confide in and so actions often come without explanation. Similarly, the mother and the girlfriend trotting behind him shouting, "Don't do anything stupid!" in despair does become weary. However Brown is a highly celebrated short film maker, and this being his first feature length does predict good things for the future. A highly respectable stepping stone between the two forms. Also, quick mention for the score for this film as it is out of this world. Hats off to you. All it all, a good film with some great gems in there.

My final thoughts are that it is definitely worth a trip out to the cinema when it is given it's release. Enjoy, and let me know what you think if you do go to see it!