This film should be banged up (Banged Up (DVD))

Member Name: sunmeilan

Product:	Banged Up (DVD)
Date:	20/07/08 (136 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: None

Disadvantages: No plot, dubbed, violent, dull dull dull

NB This is a review of the Canadian film called Banged Up and is not a review of the TV show.

Claude is imprisoned for a crime that he most definitely did commit. As a good fighter, he immediately comes to the attention of the leader of a prison gang; but rather than fall in with their wishes, he gets into a fight which he wins and then has his life threatened. A rival gang leader offers to help him out, but only if he takes part in organised fights as part of a plan to take internal control of the prison. Then cross-dresser and friend Lucia is murdered and Claude wants revenge, although friend and prison veteran, the Phantom warn him against it. Will Claude ever leave the prison and return to Karine, the love of his life? Or is he doomed to a life banged up?

Claude is played by Emmanuel Auger, who is an incredibly good looking and well-built actor and will appeal to many women. That is, unfortunately, about as far as I can go with the compliments. He doesn't give a bad performance exactly, but the dreadful plot prevents him from being anything other than mediocre. He isn't a very pleasant person, so although he is made out to be a 'hero', it is still hard to feel sorry for him, even with the Karine story tied in, which is presumably supposed to give him a more human angle.

Probably the best role in the film is that of Lucia, played by Dominic Darceuil. Lucia is into cross dressing and is ever so slightly bonkers, thus adding a touch of colour and life to what is otherwise a very very dull film. David Boutin as Jacques, a schizophrenic with manic tendencies should add to this, but he is so silly that it is hard to find him either realistic or amusing. Paul Dion as the Phantom (oh please...) gives a fairly credible performance - at least he makes the best of what he can with what is a deeply uninteresting role.

The main problem with the film is that it is just not very realistic or very well made. Setting a film in a prison could have been an interesting topic, but the writer and director really dropped the ball here, because there is virtually no plot. The film tells the story of Claude and Karine, which is partially told via a series of flashbacks, but their life is so horribly dull that I really struggled to get through to the end. Just as I thought I knew exactly where the film was going, there were a few new story threads thrown into the pot, which should, in theory, have improved the film. Unfortunately, they didn't, they just annoyed me.

I must admit that I don't know what prisons in Canada are like, but I have been in a fair few in the UK (visiting rather than being incarcerated!!), and I found it incredibly hard to believe that what happened to Claude could actually happen. There is a very surreal feel to the film, as if it is set in some future communal society; unfortunately this is not really due to original, off-the-wall direction as much as disjointed editing, which just proves to me that the film was made on a budget. It is no great surprise to me that Michael Jette, the director and one of the writers, has done very little of note since this film.

The film was originally made in French, but for reasons that I don't really understand, rather than using subtitles, a decision was made to dub the film into English. I really dislike dubbing at the best of times - I don't have a problem with subtitles, whereas I find dubbing is very off-putting if the lip-synching is out, and with this film, it was badly done. This just adds to the cheap feel.

There is a lot of violence in this film, physical, mental and sexual. And when I say sexual, bear in mind that this is set in a prison and the majority of the sex takes place between men and is not always mutual. The sex is not at all graphic, but obviously if you find homosexuality or forced sex offensive, you will want to stay well clear of this film. I didn't find it overly offensive, but it was another nail in the coffin as far as this film is concerned.

I have a very high threshold for rubbish and can usually see something positive in the very worst of films. With this one, I am really struggling to find anything positive to say. I really disliked it from start to finish and will certainly never waste another hour and a half of my life watching this. I strongly recommend that you steer well clear.

Thankfully, I didn't waste any money on this film because it was a gift (thanks, mate!). It is available from play.com for £11.99, which is way way too much, so don't succumb.

Classification: 18

Running time: 112 minutes

Summary: Give it a wide berth