Young Soul Rebels (1991)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Isaac Julien

Writers:

Paul Hallam (writer)
Isaac Julien (writer)

Release Date:

6 December 1991 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Disco | Homosexual | Music | Independent Film

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Valentine Nonyela	...	Chris
Mo Sesay	...	Caz
Dorian Healy	...	Ken
Frances Barber	...	Ann
Sophie Okonedo	...	Tracy
Jason Durr	...	Billibud
Gary McDonald	...	Davis
Debra Gillett	...	Jill
Eamonn Walker	...	Carlton (as Eamon Walker)
James Bowers	...	Sparky
Billy Braham	...	Kelly
Wayne Norman	...	Bigsy
Danielle Scillitoe	...	Trish
Ray Shell	...	Jeff Kane
Nigel Harrison	...	Cid Man

Also Known As:

La radio pirata (Spain)
Young Soul Rebels: la radio pirata (Spain)

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

UK | France | Germany | Spain

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Spain:18 | UK:18 | USA:R

Company:

British Film Institute (BFI)

Soundtrack:

Cocaine

Good film! Especially when its intentions are understood

I am currently writing a paper on this film and another for one of my film classes, Topics in National Cinemas, as it was one of the films we examined. While perusing this page for certain information I needed i happened to read the previous comment that someone had posted regarding what they thought of the film.

While reading this individual's comments it occurred to me that they COMPLETELY misunderstood the film and what it set out to challenge and address. This film is NOT a murder mystery. Yes, a murder occurs and sets off the story, but it is no more essential to the plot than is the youth in a coma in La Haine (Kassovitz, 1995). Like La Haine, this film sets out to address social issues pertaining to race, class, positioning in the political landscape, and, unlike La Haine, sexuality (which seemed to greatly disturb the previous individual who posted).

Young Soul Rebels examines the social landscape of late 1970s Britain, and particularly how it affects youths within the greatly marginalized "Black" culture. It confronts issues of diaspora, through the juxtaposition of different aspects of the "Black" culture, as in the rastas working at the garage, compared with the two, funk obsessed (and much more "Afro-English") main characters. It also looks at the intersection at which certain sub-cultural borders collide, as in the Punks, the Funks, and the Reggaes, as well as Hetero and Homosexuality. Ultimately this notion of collision is key to understanding this film for what it is, which is precisely identities in collision. If the previous individual who posted had understood this, then they would have also seen how the murderer's motives implied this idea of identity collision, were driven by it and pertained more to it than to reading the film as a simple "whodunnit." In this light, you'll also find that music drives the film, both as a signifier for identities, and as an expression of them. Music is certainly an essential component to this film.

For more information regarding the issues this film juggles, and for a greater understanding of its concepts and meanings, look at the writings of Paul Gilroy, particularly his book "Ain't No Black in the Union Jack," and the film's director, Isaac Julien.