A Room for Romeo Brass
UK/Canada 1999
Reviewed by Mark Kermode
Synopsis
Our synopses give away the plot in full, including surprise twists.
Nottingham schoolchildren Romeo Brass and Gavin 'Knocks' Woolley are neighbours and best friends, helping each other through the trials of an absentee father and damaged spine respectively. When a limping Knocks is bullied by local thugs, Romeo intervenes but is himself saved from a beating by twentysomething misfit Morrell.
Morrell drives Romeo home and meets his mother and sister Ladine. He becomes infatuated with Ladine. Morrell befriends Romeo and Knocks, who gives him jokingly misleading advice on how to dress to impress Ladine, resulting in humiliation for Morrell. Romeo's father Joe returns home, unwelcomed by his son and former partner, and confronts Morrell who continues to pursue Ladine. On a day trip to the beach, Morrell threatens Knocks, who subsequently withdraws from Romeo. As Knocks is admitted to hospital for back treatment, Romeo moves in with Morrell, whose attempted seduction of Ladine ends in angry confrontation. Rejected, Morrell throws Romeo out of his house, and attacks one of Ladine's suitors. When Morrell attacks Knocks' father, Joe intervenes, beats him and sees him off, thereby precipitating a family bonding. Romeo and Knocks are reunited, and perform a magic show together.
Review
If there is indeed such a thing as a British film tradition it probably owes less to the Laura Ashley loveliness of the Merchant Ivory period romps which sell so well abroad than to the lower-budget work of film-makers like Shane Meadows, who is fast becoming to cinema what Morrissey once was to pop. Refining the blend of realism and romance which characterised 24 7, Meadows again proves himself one of our most intriguing visual poets with this engaging picture of English mores. At once insightful and inspirational, it reminds us that it's possible to make extraordinary movies about apparently ordinary people.
Whatever else it may seem to be, A Room for Romeo Brass is first and foremost a love story, played out between a succession of odd couples: two young boys, an estranged husband and wife, a misfit and his unattainable siren. Indeed, during one musical interlude, Meadows even plays Sunhouse's 'If This Is Love' against a montage of the lost souls, at odds with their partners, to drive the point home. In other hands it could be monstrously corny, but somehow the earthiness of the characters, the believable quirkiness of their relationships and the unsentimental eye through which Meadows spies them all (accompanied by an edgily endearing soundtrack of Beck, Ian Brown, Billy Bragg and others) prevent the project from sliding into mere pop-video clichés.
Instead, what we have here is a cinematic slice of life filtered through 30 years of British popular culture. From its Kes-style opening, to its classic television sitcom closing credits, Romeo Brass hits the nostalgic home-grown touchstones with ease, but crucially avoids cosiness at every turn. Like Ken Loach and Les Blair before him, Meadows possesses an unflinching eye which does not need rose-tinted spectacles to find delightful sights. What marks Meadows' work apart from that of many of his contemporaries is his ability to negotiate the change from significance to insignificance, drama to comedy, and humour to horror with ease, allowing each element to flow into the next as if each were an individually observed moment. On at least two occasions (most notably, Morrell's attempted seduction-cum-rape of Ladine) the juncture between laughter and violence is crossed so subtly that the audience is left genuinely shocked.
As before, Meadows is aided and abetted by a handsomely accomplished cast, with newcomers Andrew Shim and Ben Marshall delivering the sort of confidently accomplished youthful performances that only come from actors who have been genuinely put at their ease by their director. The parents also hit the right note throughout, thanks (apparently) to some on-camera improvisation, jokey outtakes of which are tacked on at the end presumably to leave the audience feeling good about these people, which we do. Special mention is due to Paddy Considine whose repressed nasal Morrell lurches from sad misfit, to jestery goon, to hateful bully with consistent conviction, encapsulating the wide emotional range of the entire eccentric movie.
Credits
- Director
- Shane Meadows
- Producers
- George Faber
- Charles Pattinson
- Screenplay
- Paul Fraser
- Shane Meadows
- Director of Photography
- Ashley Rowe
- Editor
- Paul Tothill
- Production Designer
- Crispian Sallis
- Music
- Nick Hemming
- ©Romeo Brass Limited
- Production Companies
- Alliance Atlantis and BBC Films present in association with the Arts Council of England a Company Pictures/ Big Arty production
- Supported by the National Lottery through the Arts Council of England
- Executive Producers
- András Hámori
- David M. Thompson
- Line Producer
- Ronaldo Vasconcellos
- Heads of Production
- Alliance Atlantis:
- Lacia Kornylo
- BBC Films:
- Joanie Blaikie
- Production Executive
- BBC Films:
- Geoffrey Paget
- Production Supervisor
- Robert Jones
- Production Co-ordinators
- London:
- Willow Grylls
- Nottingham:
- Toby Simpson
- Co-ordinator
- BBC Films:
- Sarah Best
- Production Manager
- Mike Day
- Assistant Directors
- Sean Cameron Guest
- James Haven
- Jane Burgess
- Script Supervisor
- Mary Haddow
- Casting Director
- Abi Cohen
- Story Editor
- Robyn Slovo
- Camera Operators
- Ashley Rowe
- Vince McGahon
- Steadicam Operators
- Vince McGahon
- Alf Tramontin
- Timelapse Cameramen
- Maxim Ford
- Martin Testar
- Digital Effects
- Men in White Coats
- Video Editor
- Stephen Garrett
- Costume Designer
- Robin Fraser Paye
- Wardrobe Supervisor
- Sophie Doncaster
- Hair/Make-up Artist Design
- Pebbles
- Hair/Make-up Artist
- Tapio Salmi
- Title Design
- Pauline Hume
- Title Opticals
- Mick Lenny
- Studio 51
- Music Supervisor
- Bob Last
- Music Co-ordinator
- Heather Bownass
- Soundtrack
- "A Message to You Rudy" by Robert Livingstone Thompson, performed by The Specials; "O Maria", "Dead Melodies" by Beck Hansen, performed by Beck; "Corpses in Their Mouths" by Ian Brown, A. Ibrahim, performed by Ian Brown; "Jesus Walking" by/performed by Nick Hemming; "Matty Groves" (trad), performed by Fairport Convention, arranged by Sandy Denny, Ashley Hutchings, Richard Thompson, Dave Mattocks, Simon Nicol, Dave Swarbrick; "Twenty Five Miles" by Malcolm Starr, Johnny Bristol, Harvey Fuqua, Jerry Wexler, Bert Berns, performed by Edwin Starr; "Move It on Over" by/performed by Hank Williams; "Stolen Car" by Beth Orton, Sean Food, William Blanchard, performed by Beth Orton; "John Lee" by Dave Swarbrick, performed by Fairport Convention; "Everything's Gonna Be Alright" by Andrew Oldham, Dave Skinner, performed by P.P. Arnold; "Don't Forget Your Shovel" by Christie Hennessy, performed by Christy Moore; "Civvy Street Fiasco" by Stephen Loare, performed by Unisex; "Fox in the Snow" by/performed by Belle & Sebastian; "5,6,7,8" by Steve Crosby, Barry Upton, performed by Steps; "Colours" by Donovan Leitch, performed by Donovan; "Listen Here" by/ performed by Eddie Harris; "If This Is Love" by Gavin Clarke, performed by Sunhouse; "Going Down" by Ian Brown, John Squire, performed by Stone Roses; "Everywhere" by Greg Trooper, Ed Griffin, performed by Billy Bragg; "After Midnight" by/performed by J.J. Cale
- Choreography
- Paul Fraser
- Sound Recordist
- Colin Nicolson
- Re-recording Mixer
- Paul Hamblin
- Supervising Sound Editor
- Catherine Hodgson
- Dialogue Editor
- Jonathan Hemming
- ADR
- Mixer:
- Ted Swanscott
- Editor:
- Tim Hands
- Foley
- Artists:
- Jack Stew
- Felicity Cottrell
- Mixer:
- Ted Swanscott
- Editor:
- Michael Redfern
- Magic Adviser
- Paul Fraser
- Stunt Co-ordinator
- Glenn Marks
- Cast
- Andrew Shim
- Romeo Brass
- Ben Marshall
- Gavin 'Knock Knock' Woolley
- Paddy Considine
- Morell
- Frank Harper
- Joseph Brass
- Julia Ford
- Sandra Woolley
- James Higgins
- Bill Woolley
- Vicky McClure
- Ladine Brass
- Ladene Hall
- Carol Brass
- Bob Hoskins
- Steven Laws
- Martin Arrowsmith
- Dennis Wardrobe
- Dave Blant
- school pianist
- Darren Campbell
- Darren
- Shaun Fields
- male nurse
- Nicholas Harvey
- neighbour lad 2
- Shane Meadows
- fish and ship shop man
- Joel Morris
- park lad 1
- Johann Myers
- Clifford
- Tanya Myers
- headmistress
- Sammy Pasha
- ambulance man
- Jamahl Peterkin
- neighbour lad 1
- James Tomlinson
- park lad 2
- [uncredited]
- Paul Fraser
- physiotherapist
- Arthur Meadows
- Justin Brady
- Anthony Clarke
- Karl Collins
- Certificate
- 15
- Distributor
- Alliance Releasing (UK)
- 8,142 feet
- 90 minutes 28 seconds
- Dolby
- Colour by
- Technicolor