|
 Written
and directed by Nick Love and based on the novel by John King, 'The
Football Factory' follows the lives of four men, three of whom use
their love of 'the beautiful game' as an excuse to be violent…
a drug which they describe as being more potent than the ecstatic
mix of Class A's and sex. Here it's fists though and not syringes
that provide the hit!
As
well as joining gangs and fighting what I can only describe as petty
and pointless wars, these obsessed men (or should that be animals?),
fed up with being failed by their country and continually told they're
not good enough, are simply looking for a place to belong!
The
action is narrated by central character Tommy Johnson (Danny Dyer),
who with a good head on his shoulders, a decent job and close family
you'd think would have more commonsense than to go around bashing
people… the same could be said though of Billy Bright (Frank
Harper), who at forty-something forms part of the older generation
of the Chelsea Headhunters. Trouble is though he's a right wing
fascist and to be honest an out-and-out nutter, who quite honestly
belongs behind bars!
Then
there's Zeberdee (Roland Manookian) who's all mouth and punches.
A true hooligan if ever there was one, who acts before he thinks…
probably because he's young, of little brain and has already ventured
down the dead-end road of crime, pill popping and powder sniffing!
Finally
the only man who provides any sense to this brutal tale is Tommy's
granddad, Bill Farrell (Dudley Sutton a.k.a. Tinker Dill from he
TV series 'Lovejoy'), a seventy year old war veteran who tries to
enjoy every day to the full at the same time as providing Tommy
with some morals and wisdom… these do seem to go in one ear
and out of the other though, which becomes particularly apparent
at the showdown with the Millwall tribe.
With
the big day looming, Tommy finds himself plagued by bad dreams and
hallucagenic images, including a reoccurring billboard which asks,
'Is it worth it, Tommy?'… the answer to which is clearly 'YES'!
After all, according to the film's tagline, 'What else you gonna
do on a Saturday?'… well to be honest, I can think of plenty.
How about starting with a trip to the cinema to watch this film?!
Although
not as insightful or perhaps powerful as the most memorable football
hooliganism film (for me anyway), 'I.D.' directed by Philip Davis
in 1995, the action here does feel very real. It's even shot in
a documentary style with hand held cameras, which emphasises this…
and despite the blood and brutality it's actually quite funny as
well!
Don't
miss our films section!
You know you wanna have a nosey at it!
The
views expressed on this page are those of the contributor and the
opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the BBC.
|
