SHOPPING
A film review by Tristan H. E. White
Copyright 1994 Tristan H. E. White
When I read on some poster somewhere that SHOPPING was "The CLOCKWORK ORANGE of the Nineties" I thought that this was a rather naff cliche and doubted that the film would live up to this statement. I was not expecting to see such an explosive and awesome film.
The cinema was packed. There were all sorts of people in the queue outside the Prince Charles in Leicester Square, London. Mainly early to mid-twenties, but there was a large contingent of people representing a slightly older age-block.
The film started off with a powerful techno-beat, which continued throughout, from progressive house to bakalao, etc. Jude Law plays Billy, just released from three months in the nick. Sadie Frost plays his Irish girlfriend, Jo. Both experience a buzz from stealing cars, joyriding and ramming cars into shop windows or "ram-raiding." They are not big-time thieves, they do it merely for their own satisfaction.
The film must have shocked some of the parents seated in the auditorium, seeing ram-raiding portrayed so candidly and disturbingly. The director, in an interview, said that the movie was meant to make people (especially those who were unfamiliar with the issue) know what ram-raiding is all about, why people do it. It certainly explains why, though it never justifies their actions.
The film is certainly one for one-liners and memorable quotes. Some of the language, however, was too much for some of the audience, and when a policeman gets a full whack in the face with a baseball bat there was a shuffling of feet as some of the audience left. The film never promotes violence, but it does explain why violence occurs. Had these people stayed until the end of the film they would have seen a masterpiece.
For Jo and Billy, life is a game, like the "Krazy Kars" hand-held console-game that Jo plays with constantly throughout the movie. Always taking only the best cars (25000 BMWs, Porsches, etc) they attract the attention of the police (the "fashion patrol") so as to encourage a chase "for fun." They steal nothing, except the odd pair of sunglasses or a kettle. Sean Pertwee, meanwhile, (Tommy, the "bad guy") is the leader of the rival gang. He does the same but for money. His crowd ram-raids shops for the expensive clothes, they steal cars in exchange for 15 pounds and a bag of Ecstasy. Hatred begins to instill between Tommy and Billy; each one wants to show the other who is the greater "hero."
This seems like a society without values, of complete anarchy and hatred. However, this is not so. They have their own values. When Billy offers Jo and Be-Bop a coffee, Be-Bop replies "That stuff is bad for you, Billy." When Billy sees what Jo is smoking, he retorts "Camel! You can die from that." Later, when Billy refuses to show affection towards Jo, he replies "This is the 90s. Sex isn't safe any more." For them, ram-raiding cars into shop windows and being chased by the police is not "bad," and safer than sex. This type of excitement is Billy's alternative to sex and drugs. For Billy, the moment of crashing into a shop window seems orgasmic. When he stands in the middle of the motorway tempting death he refers to it as like "the first time you take a drug." Billy doesn't want to leave the place he calls home and wants "one last hit" at ram-raiding, though he has no home to go to after his pad is vandalized and his father no longer wants to know him.
This film is a must for fans of car chases, as there are dozens of them. With an open mind no one could really fail to find the film gripping or moving. On the other hand, one cannot fail to find it extremely disturbing, unless one is oneself disturbed. The crowd coming out of the cinema seemed to have become much younger than the one that had gone inside at the start, and I saw no one, from among those who left, under the age of 35. However, I feel that those who were too easily affected by the swearing and the content missed out on a lot. It is wrong to discard a film, as some of the "quality" newspapers have done, because of the language and/or violence. Indeed, SHOPPING has four times as many f.p.m. ("fucks"-per-minute) as GOODFELLAS. But the storyline is too close to home for some of the audience.
This film, under Michael Howard M.P.'s recent ban of video-release in the UK for excessively violent movies, may never make it to the shelves (legally). While I deplore the fate this ruling has implied for movies such as RESERVOIR DOGS, I am glad that this film will not be available in everyone's sitting room. It is not a film that someone's 10 year old should be able to get his hands on, as it could certainly screw him up. Moreover, by making SHOPPING only available on the big screen assures its survival, as it will continue to be shown at Art-House cinemas throughout the country. Furthermore, it is really a film to see on the big screen to get the feeling of the horror and ultraviolence. It is also entertaining to study the reaction of the rest of the audience during the nasty bits. Oh, but get a good Dolby Stereo theatre, the sound is used to great effect, particularly the music and the helicopter ("Pigs in Space") scenes.
What really kept amazing me throughout the movie was that this was a really powerful violent *British* movie. Tony Imi's photography is so crisp, the chase scenes are so well done and explosive, it seems like a top-budget Hollywood movie. The movie, however, was made on a very tight budget. It is so refreshing to see new faces and a new genre in British film-making. If this film were screened in the USA (and I hope it will be), it would take the American public by a storm and would certainly show their movie-going audience that the British are capable of making films other than period dramas and sloppy-slushy farces. When I was watching a scene being filmed in Whitechapel (just off Vallance Road, London) I asked one of the crew working on it about the movie. He told me that "It will be called Ram-Raiders and will be an American-Style action movie." He was a little off with the eventual choice of title, but I can very much see why this is "American-Style," though at the same time it is a London-style pastiche (but a successful one) of the old American concept of the cops-and-robbers movies.
I wonder whether Paul has achieved his aim to make a film to bring across the issue of ram-raiding and joyriding to everybody. He may have misjudged some of his audience, as the very people that needed to understand this issue left before half the film had run. Everyone who saw the film right to the end (a good 400 of us) was saying "What a brilliant film." I, for one, could not see another film for a good number of days afterwards.
I see now why it was called "The CLOCKWORK ORANGE of the Nineties," though SHOPPING does not try to emulate the film in any way. What I originally thought to be a rather cliched statement rings quite true. While not being one for cliches myself, I can say that this film is pure Adrenalin, a powerhouse of a movie, awesome, and... if you only see one film in 1994, MAKE SURE IT'S SHOPPING !!! 10 out of 10.
Next time your car gets done over, and you ask yourself "Why?" in bitter exasperation, watch "Shopping" and you'll know.
BY:
Tristan H E White (T.H.E.White@qmw.ac.uk)
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