Blue Story (2019)

Directed by: Rapman | 91 minutes | crime, drama | Actors: Stephen Odubola, Micheal Ward, Richie Campbell, Max Fincham, Rohan Nedd, Jo Martin, Kadeem Ramsay, Khali Best, Rapman, Sean Sagar, Chris Wilson, Karla-Simone Spence, Hope Ikpoku Jnr, Eric Kofi-Abrefa, Jordan Peters , Sabine Kviste

‘Blue Story’ is a flashy and hard ghetto story, from the perspective of two friends in South London. Although not completely authentic – the Peckham district did not give permission for the shooting, after which they moved to North London, the approach of director Rapman (Andrew Onwubolu) can be described as docudramatic.

In form, ‘Blue Story’ is a cross-media experiment, with fights and shootings resembling video clips, and raps by protagonists addressed to the viewer. Lively and hard, and as such successful and entertaining. The latter may not be quite the right word, if gang members realistically die in the street.

Rapman himself grew up in a poor area of ​​South East London; the two friends Timmy (Odubula) and Marco (Ward) are shy and aggressive respectively. Pace and form are certainly not disturbing: this is their life, although it is also lived in normal circumstances at home, where “Game of Thrones” is watched and sexed in school uniform.

Rapman manages to unite perspectives in an environment of peer pressure; in that sense ‘Blue Story’ is hardly surprising. The hopelessness of growing up in a ‘black’ neighborhood is once again made clear. London connoisseurs know you can’t even tell from Peckham’s houses; Adele grew to maturity practically one block away in the ‘white’ neighborhood of Balham.

Same houses, maybe a little neater. England is a country of social contradictions that are fairly hidden – palpable in the handling, but you have to know it; in the suburbs of London, rich and poor meet on the square kilometre. This aside: ‘Blue Story’ is mainly the story of black young people in a vicious circle of violence.

That cocoon is broken when individuals are strong enough to break free from the group; one-on-one friendships are an important factor; it can go many ways with these guys. Perhaps Rapman had better focused on the two, the relationships between gang members will eventually get complicated. He manages to leave the right impression.