SHOTGUNS IN ESSEX

One of the best British crime dramas in recent years came steaming into our shops at the fag-end of 2007, in the form of a very smart 2 disc DVD. RISE OF THE FOOTSOLDIER repays multiple viewings with its no-holds barred account of the infamous Range Rover murders, centering on the bloody escapades of Carlton Leach. Disc 1 features a splendid commentary track from director Julian Gilbey and his brother, co-writer William, holding forth on the making of their film. Their talk really is a pleasure to listen to as they duly highlight some terrific performances; explain their choices regarding cast selection, and are honest enough to acknowledge a handful of scenes which slightly deviate from the true story. The majority, of course, is based on solid fact, making this film even more powerful. The pair also - quite rightly - take their critics to task, quoting from reviews by writers who couldn't (or didn't want to) understand exactly where the film was coming from. Optimum Pictures were well aware of the impending backlash from the UK broadsheets (and certain tabloid papers) and warned the Gilbey's it would be a tough ride, but the people who really count went to the cinemas and purchased the DVD, proving that Joe Public doesn't listen to a bunch of elitist writers.Here, Gilbey proves himself to be an intelligent director who goes to painstaking lengths to ensure authenticity. It's worth pointing out that Julian discounts one of the theories included in the RASHOMON-style finale regarding police involvement, though he does reveal why many people at the time believed this possible. I'll leave you to check out the commentary to hear why this belief surfaced. I came out of this sitting with increased respect for their accomplishment, and went straight into the 2nd disc where the top-notch featurette was waiting. 'Filming The Footsoldier' (77 mins) tells us damn near everything we need to know about the making-of process, with input from cast and crew. As you would expect, praise from both sides of the camera is forthcoming, but instead of the usual guff, there's genuine respect in the air. Leach was lucky to enlist the services of some prime actors who perfectly suited their gritty roles, and the cast were amazed by Leach's attention to detail which perfectly captured the mood and scenery of the 3 decades in question. The football scenes in particular were just like being taken back in time, with not a frame looking out of place. The disc also contains some 29 minutes of deleted and extending scenes. With the exception of a road rage incident involving Leach and his meeting with Turkish mobsters, there's nothing here which would have improved the film but it's interesting to see what was left out of the final cut. Of greater value is the inclusion of audition clips, and watching Rici Harnett and Coralie Rose taking raw, formative steps is an education. For me, this DVD would be incomplete without the presence of the man himself, and Optimum have thoughtfully arranged for a 21 minute video interview with Carlton Leach. Here, Leach tells how his book was translated into film as he slowly came to trust the Gilbey's and shook off his initial negative response to the casting of Harnett. Leach looks on the film as a documentary of his life and while he's not shy to highlight areas he felt could have been better, he does feel that the film is a major success. It's crystal clear the film also opened up a lot of old wounds, and Leach expresses the hope that one day the truth will come out: It's a chilling thought indeed that even the murdered trio may not know the indentity's of their killers.

RISE OF THE FOOTSOLDIER has everything that a DVD should have. Great documentary, articulate commentary track and input from an informed collaborator. It's also destined to be a major cult movie for many years to come. True stories are not always covered with such honesty and realism, so it's refreshing to see that someone has the brass balls to do exactly that. Oh yes, and Gilbey reveals that he'd like to tackle the Horror genre at some point in the future!

A FEW DROPS OF CLARET HERE

Reviled by a considerable number of UK film critics, Julian Gilbey's RISE OF THE FOOTSOLDIER is actually one of the best British crime flicks since THE LONG GOOD FRIDAY. There's a scene right at the beginning which serves as a striking declaration of intent for what lies ahead, as we see three shotgun-blasted bodies lying in the morgue. Suddenly, a mobile phone on a nearby table begins to ring and the answer machine kicks in to reveal a shaky voice exhorting the owner of the phone to return the call. The voice belongs to one Carlton Leach; a nervous man in a four thousand dollar room who is beginning to fear for the safety of his pals. Later on, we get to see him make that phone call, but there's an awful lot of blood to flow under the bridge before we reach that point. Gilbey's film builds on this thoroughly downbeat opening, moving like an express train through three decades, as a cast of wholly unlikeable individuals are steered by top-notch performances. Ricci Harnett is chillingly convincing as Leach, while Roland Manookian, Terry Stone and Craig Fairbrass are just as good in their portrayals of the murdered trio: Craig Rolfe, Tony Tucker and Pat Tate. Add Bill Murray as Essex drug smuggler Mickey Steele, Frank Harper, Neil Maskell and talented females such as Emily Beecham (28 WEEKS LATER) + Laura Beaumont (THE WAR ZONE) and you have a cast that's ready, willing and able to carry off a very demanding script. A good number of the cast will be familiar to those of you who caught THE FOOTBALL FACTORY, and they're tailor-made for this graphic foray into the frightening world of organised crime. While the characters they portray are odious and terrifying in the extreme, Gilbey does go some way towards compelling us to root for them at certain points in the film; particularly during a horrific torture scene where Turkish gangsters inflict appalling injuries on Leach's colleagues in an attempt to discover exactly who was responsible for a missing case of heroin valued at £10million. It's no mean feat to elicit sundry feelings of sympathy for such a worthless bunch, but Gilbey takes us there, while never losing sight of the fact that their actions and way of life spell danger for even the innocent members of society. It could be argued that the involvement of foreign gangsters invading 'home turf' places the likes of Carlton Leach in a slightly different light, and it's not too hard to see why he could be viewed as the lesser of two great evils and become a legend. Go back to the time of the Kray Brothers who were romanticised by many people for different reasons: sure, they helped the old and the poor with hard cash and there were very few rapes or child molestations on their manor (crimes the brothers took great exception to), but look at the other side of the coin and you'll see a world of fear and pain. Here, the violence meted out is probably the most graphic of any British feature: vicious fights on tube trains as football hooligans battle it out; scenes of torture involving stabbings, graphic bodily abuse (flesh-biting, anyone?) and extreme beatings (look out for a bloody one-man war against the fast-food industry, which starts out funny and ends up in hell) are often the order of the day. That little lot has been accused of glamorising violence by learned film critics, but there isn't a moment of glamour in the entire film. Even relationships with beautiful women are tense and largely unfeeling, prompting one to question why the hell they stay with these men? Sorry, but I couldn't find any glamour in a moody undercurrent of simmering violence which frequently erupts, slamming you into the ropes and onto the canvas. These are people you never want to encounter but, in order for their stories to have a high degree of accuracy, it's necessary to show the kind of things that went down. If this film is a bit too close for comfort, Carlton Leach has gone on record as saying that the actual events he witnessed and took part in were even bloodier!

I'll be taking a look at the 2 disc DVD release later this week, but it's worth a reminder here that the two men imprisoned for the Rettendon Land Rover Murders may well be innocent. Could those responsible be Turkish gangsters, local drugs rivals or even the 'Old Bill' who possibly organised the murders with the hope that three of the thorns in their side would be out of the picture? One day, we may learn the truth but for now, RISE OF THE FOOTSOLDIER exists as an extreme record of the evil that men do, and as a sombre warning to anyone who may be close to sliding down the same slippery slope.

HOOLIGAN. BOUNCER. GANGSTER. LEGEND

"You've got to be able to take a good hiding as well as dish it out. I've had my nose rearranged and I've been kicked in the face by Arsenal and Chelsea fans, stabbed in the back by Millwall fans but all I wanted to do was get back into the fray the next week and get my revenge."

HOOLIGAN

Julian Gilbey's RISE OF THE FOOTSOLDIER charges through three decades of organised crime, beginning in the mid 70s as football related violence became part of life for many young (and not-so young)men. Carlton Leach was one of those involved, participating in open warfare as a member of West Ham United's hooligans. Eventually, football's armies of combatants would be streamlined into regiments known as 'firms' and West Ham's Inter City Firm would establish a reputation as being one of the most feared in the UK, leaving 'calling cards' on the bodies of victims. I first encountered West Ham as a 15 year old and learned some valuable lessons, emerging bruised but a lot wiser. In those days, it was difficult not to get involved, and Leach's own activities are recounted in this film through a series of incidents which will doubtless prompt nods of the head from many a viewer. Violent confrontations with Man Utd's Red Army, altercations filmed at Leyton Orient Football Club (the first ground I got thrown out of) and an extremely bloody (and realistic) tube train battle with Millwall's Treatment mob are shot with unflinching acurracy, taking this film above GREEN STREET and THE FOOTBALL FACTORY in the football violence stakes. Using hi-def, 16mm, 35mm and super 8, Gilbey captures these violent encounters with a keen eye, often matching those old 70s news footage to provide added realism. Leach eventually bowed out of football violence - due in part to police success in partially controlling these activities - but violence in a different form was beckoning. Soccer violence was often a soft drug, that could lead to the harder stuff and Leach did indeed progress, becoming a doorman at local clubs en route to the dangerous world of true organised crime.
BOUNCER
Moving through the 80s Rave Scene - where football hostilities were temporarily shelved as rival gangs mingled to enjoy the fruits of clubland - RISE OF THE FOOTSOLDIER follows Leach into the security business. Here, streetwise doormen are involved to serve the interests of the general public, keeping a watchful eye on potential troublemakers. In reality, many bouncers used their status to distribute drugs amongst the punters and gleefully knocked seven bells out of those who stood in their way; particularly rivals seeking to cut themselves a larger slice of this lucrative cake.
GANGSTER
Given the kind of things going down in the Essex clubs, this was almost a natural progression for wayward doormen, and art reflects life here in the most savage way imaginable. Vicious beatings, extreme (and I do mean extreme) torture and gangland slayings were the order of the day, and Gilbey's film rightly pulls no punches with regard to showing us exactly what these men were capable of.
LEGEND
First we had Leach's book, 'Muscle', and now we have a new film (forget the inferior ESSEX BOYS) which has been slated by many writers who accuse Gilbey of glamorising violence. My next post will take a look at the film itself.

THE RANGE ROVER MURDERS

On the evening of December 6th 1995, three men were shot at point blank range on an isolated farm track in Rettendon, Essex. The bloody remains of Pat Tate, Tony Tucker and Craig Rolfe were discovered by local farmers in a range rover, their faces so disfigured that they could only be identified by fingerprints. The trio were involved in organised crime and had recently had a fall-out with Michael Steele; a local drugs dealer who had reputedly supplied them with a shipment of 'bad drugs'. Tate had allegedly boasted he would kill Steele, who had formed a close relationship with Tate's former girlfriend. Two men were arrested for the murders, convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. Since then, Jack Whomes and Michael Steele have always protested their innocence, and two appeals against their convictions have been turned down. In the light of new evidence, a new appeal is underway, and it seems there could well be another reversal of a miscarriage of justice hitting the headlines in the not-too distant future. Whomes and Steele's convictions were purely down to the word of one man: Darren Nicholls - drug peddler and police informant - turned Queen's evidence and testified that he received a phone call from Whomes asking him to pick up Steele and himself from the scene of the murder. Years later, fresh examination has revealed that none of the calls made from Whomes' mobile were made from the scene of the crime. 'Supergrass' Nicholls now has a new identity and is living in secrecy, doubtless looking over his shoulder and wondering if the underworld will one day track him down. So, did Nicholls lie in court? Well, he was facing a lengthy jail sentence after being caught in possession of 10kg of cannabis, so lying to the court was certainly a get-out-of-jail card if ever there was one, with the assurance of police protection and a new career in a new town. He also received royalties from a book written pre-trial ("Bloggs 19"), and part-payment for a TV programme that was never aired. Bloggs, followed by a number, is used to identify inmates of the Protected Witness Unit (which does not officially exist). It houses members of criminal gangs who have decided to break the underworld code and turn 'supergrass'.
Now, over 10 years later, we may be moving closer towards the truth but if Whomes and Steele are innocent, who carried out the murders? Carlton Leach, a close friend of the trio, doesn't know the answer but Julian Gilbey's film does offer a few very interesting theories. I'll be continuing my look at this controversial story with a review of Gilbey's film and the DVD throughout the course of this week.