Babylon (DVD)

Along with "The Harder They Come" one of the classic reggae films is undoubtedly "Babylon". Set in South London in 1980/1, it stars Aswad member Brindsley Forde in the role of Blue. A young man living at home with his mother, his older more successful brother and his younger truant-playing brother, he works in a mechanics for a big-mouthed racist with his white friend (played by Karl Howman). His aspirations to have success with his reggae sound system only plays a minor part in the film, there's a lot more going on, including relationships and daily struggles in life.

The band themselves are a likeable bunch of chaps and there are some funny sections of it to boot, the dialogue is rather entertaining. Usually films involving bands are a little bit too glammy but this is stripped down and raw, most definitely made on a low budget but it's a good film.

The film shows the poverty of Thatcher's Britain and the budding post-punk, ska revival music scene of the early 80s, there is also a lot of racism in the film, I wasn't around in the early 80s, so I can't say how realistic it is but it generally gets good critics and looks quite shocking today.

With scenes in alleyways, smokey back offices, garages and blocks of flats, it's definitely the grimier parts of South London and it's definitely a very urban film, the end came as quite a surprise to me but you'll have to watch it yourself to find out why!

The film was directed by Franco Rossi who had a bit of involvement in music orientated film over the years but nothing too much of note, the associated writer Martin Stellman is best known for being the writer of the screenplay of Quadrophenia and more recently The Interpreter.