Thursday 5 August 2010

LE DONK AND SCOR-ZAY-ZEE

(Shane Meadows; UK; 2009)


Shane Meadows first films in the mid to late 90's were a British mini-revelation, with a loose, comic, semi-improvised flavour. As Meadows has gained more experience and bigger budgets, he's moved away from this free-flowing style, but with this shambolic little thing he's gone back to his beginnings, and then amped it up a notch. By framing his old style inside a mockumentary that seems to be the modern day rapper 'n' roadie version of This Is Spinal Tap, Meadows is exploring newish terrain. Ultimately, this film is a vehicle for comedic brilliance of Paddy Considine – although Scor-Zay-Zee is the real-life rapper and 'the one with all the talent', it's Considine's portrayal of exuberant, forthright, and ridiculously control-freaky Le Donk that steals nearly every single scene in the film. His childlike temperamental attitude so often teeters on the edge of creating outright chaos, but there's enough sincerity and good inside him to keep his boat balanced upright. Lovely how Meadows himself becomes an active viewable component to the film. Short, sweet, and kinda spot-on.

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