GOODBYE, CHARLIE BRIGHT
UK, 2001, 87 minutes, Colour.
Paul Nicholls, Roland Manookian, Phil Daniels, Jamie Foreman, Danny Dyer, Dani Behr, Richard Driscoll, David Thewliss, Sid Mitchell, Alexis Rodney, Nicholas Stapleton.
Directed by Nick Love.
'Bright' is an evocative word for this film. Set in a hot London summer, the colour is particularly bright. The set design emphasises this with bright pastels as does the costume design. This is not a dingy London. The central character is Charlie Bright (Paul Nichols) who up till now in his life has not shown himself to be bright at all. It is the opposite. He hangs out with his friends who are the types who most likely burgled your house or smashed your car. They do it for fun and the buzz as well as the money. But Charlie has something of a code. He is loyal to his friends, especially Justin (Roland Monookian in a very self-confident and cheeky performance) who seems to be without any moral purpose or anchor. He mocks his friends, is a robbery daredevil and shows no sensitivity to other people except his best friend (the lads nickname him 'the wife'), Charlie.
Things change. One robbery too far that they unexpectedly escape from unscathed. One lad intending to get married as he is going to be a father. Another off to National Service. And Charlie, tired of being bored and of coming to Justin's rescue all the time, is attracted to a local girl. When things come to a violent head with Justin (who still emerges grinning and triumphant), Charlie literally runs towards his future.
There have been plenty of stories like this. This one has verve and pace, good acting and some hope even for these young thugs.
1. The title? The focus on Charlie? His name of Bright – bright or not? The emphasis on goodbye, change and its possibilities? Hopes?
2. South London, the atmosphere of the estate, the flats and the buildings, the streets, parks, officers? The musical score?
3. The summer, the brightness of the colours and photography? The mood?
4. The initial run throughout the estate, boys naked, the reaction of the neighbours? A lark, joke? Intimations of homoerotic aspects?
5. The impact of the film for Londoners, younger audiences, for Britons? Beyond? The look, clothes, football support, accents, behaviour?
6. Friends, the group growing up in the 1990s, male bonding? Escapades? The testing of the bonds, friends growing away from each other? Aspects of law, morality?
7. The range of the young men: Tommy and his going into the Army, Francis and his girlfriend, moving away from the group, Eddie and his taking up with France’s girlfriend, knives, violent, older, running over Francis? Damien and Tony?
8. Charlie, bright, lively, his personality, the focus of the story, his relationship with the others?
9. His relationship with Justin? Justin and his life, no family, relying on Charlie, joke about his being Charlie’s “wife�? Sharing the experiences? With the other young men? Spoiling Charlie’s opportunities with the estate agent? A time coming for testing, for independence?
10. Charlie, his true friendship with Justin, but having to move away, the gun, the test, the motivations? Whether Justin realised this or not?
11. A film of the stage of life, trapped – or not? Change, goodbye, hope?
