Thanks to Ain't It Cool News' coverage of this year's South By Southwest, I'm hyped up about a new movie called Hooligans. This is what they have to say about the film
Like Ong Bak, this movie is not about gangs or violence or even "football"...it is about finding what is missing from life and the journey of the protagonist to find it.
Matt Buckner just walks away from his future and his own talent in the beginning of this movie. We are given the superficial reason, but we cannot help but feel immediately that he gives up "without a fight" he just resigns himself to it and then "runs away". It seems maddening that he does this, but at the same time, so many of us do the same thing in small ways everyday that we relate. Essentially this is the set-up for his personal transformation.
He gets drawn into the completely foreign world of football firms or gangs. His naivety leads the way, because he really doesn't know how deep and dark this world is, even though we, the audience, are given a glimpse of it at the beginning of the movie. For the first time, Matt gets a taste of loyalty and friendship that seem to expand his world to a sense of belonging which has been missing from his privileged but solitary academic life. But he is still naive. As Americans in the same unfamiliar world of the football firms, we go right along with him because of the down to earth appeal of being a "regular" guy, and the treat of seeing a real West Ham United match with real fans complete with all the frenzy and excitement. But we are also drawn by the charm of Pete, the head of the West Ham United firm, who happens to be Matt's sister's brother-in-law. Pete is played brilliantly by actor Charlie Hunnam.
The violence of the brawls that ensue to protect the reputation of the firms and the teams they "represent" is handled extremely well in this film. Bloody, "gritty" and adrenaline-pumping bare fist fights without weapons where wit, nerve and fighting ability are all the tools the firms use to maintain their reputation. Occasional sticks, stones and broken beer bottles find their way into the fights and when they do, they are usually used as an indication of dirty fighting or survival. The movie in no-way glorifies violence or even justifies it. The fights just become an important part of the story and the transformation of Matt.
I will not say more of about this movie because people just need to see it themselves
You can check out the trailer here. Beware, tho', that it's not a trailer in the truest sense, but ratherm it's just a montage of violence. Not that there's anything wrong with that
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