DVD Review: North V South

And underneath the table …….?

 

Title:                          North V South

Certificate:               18

Director:                   Steven Nesbit

Major Players:         Steven Berkoff, Keith Allen, Bernard Hill

Out Of Five:             3

 

The gritty British thriller is a well-established tradition and has something of a cult following.  That applies especially to the contemporary version and there’s been plenty in recent years to keep the fans satisfied: The Guvnors, Hyena, Snow In Paradise, to say nothing of this year’s clutch of films about the Kray twins.

Next in line comes Steven Nesbit’s North V South, out on DVD this week, with its cast of familiar and heavyweight British actors.  We’re back in gangland with two big rival firms, one from the north and the other from the south (surprise!) coming together to agree a truce after years of intense rivalry.  But the peace is superficial, especially as far as southern gang member Gary Little (Brad Moore) is concerned.  And it’s complicated by the romantic entanglement by one of the northeners, Terry (Elliott Tittensor) and Willow (Charlotte Hope), daughter of southern gang leader Vic (Steven Berkoff).

So one theme leaps straight off the page, the Romeo And Juliet analogy, which we’ve seen many times before.  Admittedly, it’s a sub-plot but it does have a bearing on how the storyline develops, but it’s that familiarity which is one of the shortcomings of the film.  It’s very derivative, with so many scenes harking back to other movies, big and small.  The gathering of the two gangs around a table is reminiscent of the meeting of the five families in The Godfather: the word “consigliere” is even used in describing a couple of the gang members.   Lady gangster Penny (Freema Agyeman) wears a fitted, light coloured trouser suit when she attacks an enemy with a baton, evoking memories of Uma Thurman’s Bride in Kill Bill.  And so it goes ……

It’s a film of ups and downs.  Nesbit is also responsible for the script and has created some powerful scenes and images.  The meeting between the two gangs and the view of what lies beneath that long table promises something with style and a sense of irony.  But it’s not long before Nesbit loses the plot and goes down a much more outlandish road to such an extent that the film starts to look like something straight out of a comic book.  Transvestite contract killer Gustave (Dom Monot) is both deadly and deranged when it comes to doing his job and kills without a second thought – but when that involves pursuing his latest victim in a helicopter (he flies it as well as shooting at his quarry below) it all starts to look more than a little ridiculous.  And the use of a little girl as an assassin – and her early strike rate – is both ludicrous and disturbing in equal measure.

Despite having assembled an impressive home grown cast, only some of them have the opportunity to shine.  Freema Agyeman simply doesn’t convince as Penny, a very active member of the northern gang and, while he brings a quiet gravitas to his role, Keith Allen’s southern consigliere has very little to do, other than act as a low-key sounding board for his noisy boss, Steven Berkoff giving us his usual foul mouthed nasty.  Bernard Hill as the head of the northern syndicate has more to get his teeth into, one moment caring for his deceased friend’s daughter, the next raging at her for no good reason.  And there’s a moving cameo from Greta Scacchi as Terry’s terminally ill mother, who would dearly love for her son to get out of crime.  Their scene together is the best in the film.

As British gangster movies go, this isn’t much better than average.  The potential for something better is there, but gets overruled by the ridiculous and over-melodramatic.  So far, Steven Nesbit has always directed and written his own films but, with this one going off the rails so often, it begs the question about him taking on too much.  Maybe he should try doing one or the other.  But not both.

 

North V South is out on DVD now and will be reviewed on Talking Pictures on Christmas Eve, Thursday, 24 December.