Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Starred Up

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Posted by Marcel Birgelen (Member # 6801) on 05-14-2014, 04:37 AM:

David Mackenzie's latest film, a highly violent prison drama, might be his best to date.

Oliver Love is a highly violent teenager, who gets transferred from juvenile to adult prison, where he happens to meet his father (who is also a detainee), amongst other challenges.

His exact crimes remain a mystery, although we learn during the movie, that he killed at least two people.

The film was shot in two derelict prisons in the UK and Ireland, which gives the movie a very realistic feel. The shaky camerawork can be forgiven, as it quite fits the style of the movie.

The whole thing feels a bit like watching some kind of prison documentary on the Discovery Channel, without the commentary and with the cameras running at all times. There is a general lack of plot development, it's practically an uncensored window of a few weeks into the brutal lives of a British high security prison. Stuff doesn't really seem to get better or worse, it essentially stays all messed up in one way or the other. Maybe that's also exactly the point the movie is trying to get across.

With a high level of violence, full front nudity and non-stop swearing, this movie is not for the faint of hearth. Still, I'd recommend this movie to anyone who likes movies with a certain degree of realism.

Something I had to look up myself: The term "Starred Up" is apparently slang for an early transfer from juvenile to adult prison.