Minding The Gap (15.)
Directed by Bing Liu.
Featuring Zack Mulligan, Kiere Johnson, Nina Bowgren and Bing Liu. 97 mins.
Bing Liu's debut feature is basically a home movie that grew wings. His teenage hobby of filming his skateboarder pals Zack and Kiere in their Rust-belt hometown, Rockford Illinois, has become this great study of coming of age among the America underclass.
Rockford is one of those post-industrial American towns where all the businesses have moved away. It's not a ghost town like Detroit or Flint, but it is striking that on Saturday afternoons the downtown area seems to zombie apocalypse deserted. Which is great for the director to perfect taking long tracking shots of skateboarders gliding down car park ramps and main streets.
The three of them all had physically abusive fathers and the crux of the film is them trying to break the cycle of violence, drinking, weed and low expectations. Poignantly, each of them seems blessed with inherent charm. Ok, we don't see much of Bing because he's usually behind the camera, but Kiere has an infectious smile and laugh, and seems capable of seeing the bright side of any situation, while Zach is like a stoner Alistair Cook. By the end you'll have a lot invested in them not getting crushed by the system.
Directed by Bing Liu.
Featuring Zack Mulligan, Kiere Johnson, Nina Bowgren and Bing Liu. 97 mins.
Bing Liu's debut feature is basically a home movie that grew wings. His teenage hobby of filming his skateboarder pals Zack and Kiere in their Rust-belt hometown, Rockford Illinois, has become this great study of coming of age among the America underclass.
Rockford is one of those post-industrial American towns where all the businesses have moved away. It's not a ghost town like Detroit or Flint, but it is striking that on Saturday afternoons the downtown area seems to zombie apocalypse deserted. Which is great for the director to perfect taking long tracking shots of skateboarders gliding down car park ramps and main streets.
The three of them all had physically abusive fathers and the crux of the film is them trying to break the cycle of violence, drinking, weed and low expectations. Poignantly, each of them seems blessed with inherent charm. Ok, we don't see much of Bing because he's usually behind the camera, but Kiere has an infectious smile and laugh, and seems capable of seeing the bright side of any situation, while Zach is like a stoner Alistair Cook. By the end you'll have a lot invested in them not getting crushed by the system.
