Elba makes directorial debut with Jamaican drama
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Caribbean L BQ ife, March 22–28, 2019 49
By Kam Williams
Dennis “D” Campbell (Aml
Ameen) had the misfortune
of growing up in the slums of
Kingston, Jamaica in the Seventies
at a time when the ‘hood was
infested with drugs. Orphaned
at an early age, he was raised
by an older brother he admired,
Jerry (Everaldo Creary).
Besides serving as a surrogate
father, Jerry was a peacemaker
who risked his life pressuring
the gangs ruining the community
to end their bloody turf war.
But Dennis was left traumatized
at 13 when his sibling was
senselessly shot dead by Clancy
(Raheem Edwards), a young
member of the Tappa crew.
Fast forward a half-dozen
years and we find D doing the
bidding of King Fox (Sheldon
Shepherd), the leader of Spicer,
Tappa’s rival gang. When he
is asked to smuggle a kilo of
cocaine on a plane bound for
London, he leaps at the opportunity
because not only does
Clancy live there now, but so too
does Dennis’ daughter (Myla-
Rae Hutchinson-Dunwell). So,
the risky assignment will afford
him an opportunity to avenge
his brother’s murder while reuniting
with loved ones.
That is the intriguing set
up of Yardie, a coming-of-age
drama marking the noteworthy
directorial debut of Idris Elba.
Adapted from Victor Headley’s
1992 novel of the same name,
the film is narrated by its intrepid
protagonist, a conflicted soul
eternally torn between good and
evil.
A gritty tale of survival slightly
marred by a tendency to telegraph
its punches.
“Yardie”
Very Good (3 stars)
Unrated
Running time: 101
minutes
Production Companies:
Warp Films / BFI Film
Fund / Studio Canal
Distributor: Rialto Pictures
Aml Ameen in “Yardie” (2018) Photo by Alex Bailey
Independent & Foreign Films
Dragged across Concrete
(R for profanity,
sexuality, nudity, grisly
images and graphic violence)
Action thriller
about a couple of cops
(Mel Gibson and Vince
Vaughn) who turn to a life of crime after
being suspended without pay for police
brutality caught on camera. With Don
Johnson, Fred Melamed, Michael Jai
White and Jennifer Carpenter.
El Chicano (Unrated) Crime saga,
set in East L.A., about twins (Raul Castillo)
who choose to live their lives on
opposite sides of the law. Cast includes
Jose Pablo Cantillo, Aimee Garcia and
Marlene Forte.
Hotel Mumbai (R for profanity,
bloody images and pervasive violence)
Fact-based drama recounting the 2008
terrorist attack at the Taj Mahal Palace
Hotel by radical Islamists which
claimed 174 innocent lives. Co-starring
Dev Patel, Armie Hammer, Amandeep
Singh and Jason Isaacs. (In English,
Hindi, Punjabi, Marathi, Greek, Russian,
Arabic, Urdu and Persian with
subtitles)
Maze (Unrated) Historical drama, set
in Northern Ireland in 1983, recreating
the infamous jailbreak of 38 IRA members
from a maximum security prison.
Ensemble cast includes Barry Ward,
Martin McCann, Tom Vaughan-Lawlor,
Kam’s Kapsules
Eileen Walsh and Aaron Monaghan.
Ramen Shop (Unrated) Coming-ofage
drama revolving around a griefstricken
young chef (Takumi Saitoh)
who travels from Japan to Singapore
in search of his late parents’ recipes
only to also uncover some deep family
secrets. With Seiko Matsuda, Jeanette
Aw and Tsuyoshi Ihara. (In Japanese,
Mandarin and English with subtitles)
Sunset (R for violence) Characterdriven
drama, set in 1913, about a
young woman (Juli Jakab) who ventures
to Budapest hoping to secure a job at
the hat store once owned by her late
parents, only to be turned away by the
shop’s new owner (Vlad Ivanov). Cast
includes Susanne Wuest, Bjorn Freiberg
and Urs Rechn. (In Hungarian and
German with subtitles)
Trading Paint (R for profanity)
Action adventure about a legendary
father (John Travolta) and son (Toby
Sebastian) car racing team who end up
facing each other in a high-stakes contest
following a falling out. With Shania
Twain, Michael Madsen and Kevin
Dunn.
By Kam Williams
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