Whilst some of the incidental details are hard to swallow, this is for the most part a brilliant example of a BBC Screen Two taking its audience to the limits of intensity and approaching everyday problems with a documentary feel yet managing to ask deep questions about them without making an issue out of it. I actually prefer this movie to Alan Clarke's The Firm since it is better paced and more cinematic; I have always felt The Firm was one of Clarke's weaker movies, albeit still a very good one. ID begins a little uncertainly, but very soon we're hooked, and the sense of danger that pervades is genuinely unsettling. The criticisms that can be made are not detracting due to the films power, which gives you no time (or confidence!) to question anything as matters are too tense and gripping for you to have time to!The central premise of policeman being sent into such dangerous situations undercover with barely any preparation for so little purpose is ludicrous. Also the motivation behind the hooligan "organisers" is bewildering and never explained.The quiz machine sequence is a classic however.
If someone is going to sit through a movie as violent as this I find it hard to believe a little Anglo-Saxon is going to break them!
Phil Davis also manages to make minimal amounts of extras look like a real thousand fold mob and the direction is very nice throughout, keeping a television play stance on theatrical set-pieces and closely observed performances (the dinner table scene being a good example) but also giving a good use of cinematic skill when he needs to, as in the vast stadium scenes.
One last point; seeing this in the cinema is a very unnerving experience as crowds tend to tear seats apart and march out chanting. This to me is a perfect illustration of how true to life this story is. A great return to form for British cinema doing what it does best. And the scene where Reece Dinsdale goes back to his wife's house to attempt a reconcilliation is both revolting and VERY funny.
If someone is going to sit through a movie as violent as this I find it hard to believe a little Anglo-Saxon is going to break them!
Phil Davis also manages to make minimal amounts of extras look like a real thousand fold mob and the direction is very nice throughout, keeping a television play stance on theatrical set-pieces and closely observed performances (the dinner table scene being a good example) but also giving a good use of cinematic skill when he needs to, as in the vast stadium scenes.
One last point; seeing this in the cinema is a very unnerving experience as crowds tend to tear seats apart and march out chanting. This to me is a perfect illustration of how true to life this story is. A great return to form for British cinema doing what it does best. And the scene where Reece Dinsdale goes back to his wife's house to attempt a reconcilliation is both revolting and VERY funny.