Summary
Blue Story is a tough and gritty film, based in London, written and directed by Andrew Onwubolu, also known as Rapman.
From what I can gather, the material in Blue Story is based on a series of YouTube uploads, and focuses on the friendship, and ultimate tragic rivalry, between two young lads that end up victims in a postcode war.
We follow the characters through school, and through their eyes we meet their friends and family.
Bookended by CCTV images of real incidents, it is apparent very early on that things are not going to end well for our leads.
As the story develops, it almost feels Shakespearean in tone, with rival factions at war, trust and friendship betrayed, and star crossed lovers, doomed from the first act.
The cast do a fine job, but to be perfectly honest, being from Scotland, I had a little trouble understanding a lot of the dialogue. My age probably didn’t help either, but a lot of plot points may have gone over my head, however I was engaged throughout and the classical nature of the actual storytelling gave me a good enough idea of where events were heading.
Rapman himself also appears intermittently to recap events through his rap music.
This was an interesting device, but it often came across a little stage-like and took me out of the drama when it happened. I understand what he was doing here, but it broke the tone for me, in the same way that a musical number inserted into a screenplay would.
The message is very clear in Blue Story, but the terrifying truth at the heart of the story leaves the viewer feeling that there is no answer to the problems that are addressed, and the screenplay leaves the audience with little to cling onto at the end.
Sadly the limited release of this film will hurt its box office, and releasing it alongside 21 Bridges won’t do it any favors, but there is a lot to like here.
Obviously I am not the target audience, but I would recommend giving this a view if you have any interest in the subject matter.
