Small Axe Anthology (Steve McQueen): Red, White and Blue

[Ezee E]

LETTERBOXD

[Pop Trash]

Bump. Really like this. Complicated character. Great performance from John Boyega. Small acts (axe?) of subtle, non-invasive formalism from Steve McQueen.

[Peng]

Admire more than outright taken with this one, as I think the overall concept, which is to convey a feeling of overwhelming futility that comes with the first step in tackling on institutional change, really needs a longer running time so that the procedural details can be fleshed out more. At only 80 minutes, the ideas it takes on aren't allowed to feel as expansive as they should be. Still, McQueen's cool, clinical approach for this one (with one doozy of a long-take setpiece), combined with Boyega's simultaneously steely and ferocious turn, help build the film to that ending, in which its quietly devastating suddenness lingers long afterwards. 7.5/10

[Stay Puft]

Another yay, and this episode is easily the best dramatized yet (though it's looking like Lovers Rock will remain my favorite episode for the bravura filmmaking of its major setpieces). This does have a similar problem with Mangrove in that McQueen's visual storytelling is sometimes really uneven, another case of a genre formula randomly punched up and not even with arthouse sensibilities, but that specifically BBC mode of "I'm shooting a bunch of actors talking and let's be honest it's boring so I'm gonna shove this dude's head all the way into the corner of the frame for reasons" (Luther, a show that I do otherwise enjoy, boasts some hilariously egregious examples of this). Some of his choices are just weird, but nevertheless compared to Mangrove I found this much more judicious in its direction overall, and much more effectively written and performed. This is Boyega's best performance yet, and McQueen and his co-writer have given him a lot of compelling and thorny material to work with. It moves steadily but relentlessly, building a suffocating atmosphere, and its real success is in its very final moment; while based on a true story, like Mangrove, this episode doesn't reach its obvious dramatic conclusion or even throw up some title cards at the end to tell us about the eventual successes of Logan's career. It's a blunt and chilling finale, provoking the audience to confront an uncomfortable truth: What if there's nothing worth saving?