FILM / On Cinema
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.If you ever wondered what the phrase 'idiot energy' meant, then a visit to Shopping is called for.
This isn't meant to be a put-down (well, maybe just a little): energy, after all, is the vital ingredient missing from so much contemporary British cinema. Paul Anderson's directorial debut has things to say about anarchy in the UK and it flaunts a cinematic crackle almost wholly absent from more self-regarding State of the Nation fare (London Kills Me, The Secret Rapture) - the sort of insular lit-Brit movies that Anderson and multiplex-generation chums Vadim Jean (Beyond Bedlam) and Danny Cannon (Young Americans, the forthcoming Judge Dredd) obviously want to break with.
Shopping looks good, moves fast and holds the attention. Unfortunately, that's all it does. In that respect, it's not so different from Cannon's Young Americans, an empty homage to the US action genre that has the sort of mindless thrust Elvis would have envied - and absolutely nothing else. The screen explodes, cars career, characters die and you don't turn a hair: empathy would not only be sentimental, it would also be superfluous. Which may seem the ultimate, if inadvertent, tribute to American cinema, but it actually speaks volumes about the essential Britishness of the enterprise, despite its strivings to renounce the emotional arctic that is native arthouse product.
In a way, Shopping's ram-raiding metaphor boomerangs back on itself. After a while it appears less about assaulting the capitalist system for gain and more about the New Wave of British film makers trying to smash and grab their way to feeling. Which is both embarrassing and promising.
(Photograph omitted)
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments