Rude Boy

Noland - http://www.samweb.net/booth/reviews/index.asp

Dir. By Jack Hazan and David Mingay

I'll admit that I'm a bit of an anglophile, but I'm specifically drawn to the England of the 70s and 80s. I've really only "studied" this timeframe through the perspective of the music that was popular and the artists that embodied it. Primary amongst those artists were The Clash and I've always hated the fact that I never got to see them live.Well, 1980's "Rude Boy" meets my needs on both fronts. The blending of these elements helps make this a unique film in each of those genres whose qualifications it satisfies. The police are out in force, watching over demonstrations from the fascistic National Front supporters and gatherings/marches by their opposition.

Into this setting the main character, Ray (Ray Gange, who wrote the film as well), is introduced. He is the complete picture of the disenchanted youth - drunk, frustrated, nihilistic, seeking only to attend Clash shows, chase birds, and down multiple cans of lager. This allows for a great deal of concert footage of The Clash in action and allowing the particular songs that are used to double as the soundtrack for the drama part of the movie.Ray is the definition of the rude boy - disillusioned, disaffected, young and purposeless, unmotivated for anything beyond booze and birds.  There are a couple of scenes showing the government's lack of connection with its people, symbolized most clearly by sequences involving P.M. Thatcher. The film honestly examines the toll being exacted on the citizens, the reasons behind these conditions and, probably most importantly, a way out, a manner with which to handle and overcome this dire situation.For me, the music of The Clash has always been a clarion call, of anarchy with purpose and direction, demonstrating quite clearly that one's personal actions and beliefs are indeed THE basis for the health of the political sphere. But, if these interdependencies are abused or denied, the world ends up in chaos.