Rocks
Dir. Sarah Gavron / Dur. 90 mins / Country. UK
Festival Strand:- Special Presentation
In A Nutshell:- A young girl tries to cope with looking after herself and her young brother after their mother leaves them.
The Good:- Given the heavy subject matter, it’s a film that does its best to highlight the joy and fun in the lives of the protagonists. That’s not to say that it shies away from the heavier aspects, just that it isn;t defined by the more serious moments. The young cast are uniformly strong - all the more impressive given that they are largely first time actors. I’m not the biggest fan of child actors but I have to say that D’Angelou Osei Kissiedu playing little brother Emmanuel definitely managed to steal every scene he was in. Bukky Bakray as the titular Rocks definitely marks and-coming talent to watch out for, holding the film together, but Kosar Ali as best friend Sumaya has definite screen presence too. While it’s not afraid to fully embrace the sadness of the situation that Rocks and Emmanuel find themselves in, it manages to do so with a vibrant energy that is lacking from a lot of social-realist cinema. In some ways, it reminded me a little of Eighth Grade which felt like it was a film about teenagers but from a teenager’s perspective.
The Bad:- I thoroughly enjoyed this one and can't think of anything about it that was particularly lacking or needed improvement.
The Verdict:- A vibrant but occasionally heartbreaking slice of teenage life that manages to feel like it appropriately represents the age group it’s looking at without being patronising.
The Venue / Intro / Q&A:- At the Embankment Garden Cinema again as all of them were for the last day. An intro and Q&A from the director and screenwriters plus the key members of the cast. The development process was highly collaborative with the cast working for a long time with the screenwriters to craft an authentic feel to the dialogue as well as utilising a lot of improvisation throughout the shoot as well. Around 150 hours of footage were shot for them to edit down into the final film. For the actors, the food fight scene in the school was among their highlights from the filming process - less so for the wardrobe and make-up departments who had to reset afterwards…
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