Review of Bloody Kids (Review)
Monday, 20th November 2006, 03:37

Introduction
This film has the dubious honour of being Richard Beckinsale's last work. He died of a heart attack during filming and his part was recast and the scenes with him in reshot. It's known in the US as "One Joke Too Many" and is notable as a collaboration between Stephen Frears and Stephen Poliakoff.

Two days in the lives of a pair of what we would now probably call Chavs in 1970s Southend (or should that be Sarfend?). Full of familiar faces including Jack Douglas, Gwyneth Strong, Danny Peacock, Mel Smith, Kim Taylforth, Gary Olsen and Brenda Fricker, this movie might be of more than passing interest to "before they was famous" types, but Poliakoff and Frears have both done work of more interest than this.

Short listed for a BAFTA, the story concerns two eleven year olds – manipulative Leo and manipulated Mike, living in the seedy subculture of early Thatcher era Southend. Needless to say, the place is hopeless, joyless and seedy and the two boys find violence a regular part of life. A prank to test the competence of the police goes completely pear-shaped and results in Leo being stabbed. With the police closing in, Mike goes on the run.

Maybe somebody else might get more out of this than me, but I find this kind of material deeply depressing and a real chore to watch. I'd hope that somebody else might find watching this deeply rewarding, but call me a philistine – I didn't.

Video
Shot 1.33:1 on 16mm and blown up for theatrical release, the movie looks better than it perhaps has any business looking. Network have obviously taken some care over this release, as the picture is pleasingly clean, and shows excellent colour and contrast.



Audio
Dolby 2.0 Mono. George Fenton's BAFTA nominated score in places is nothing short of deafening.



Features
Alternate US title sequence (mute). Otherwise nothing. No subtitles.



Conclusion
Bloody Kids is the title and bloody kids is what the picture is all about – two of the little sods. Stephen Poliakoff and Stephen Frears collaborated to make this anthem to juvenile disaffectation in the late 1970s. If our two heroes Mike and Leo have something to bitch about, they should wait until they leave school in five years (it would have been 1984, whereupon they'd have been really screwed.)