BIFF: Attack The Block

by Katia Nizic 09 November 2011 16:35 Filmink Festival Coverage

The Brisbane International Film Festival kicks off proceedings with a bold and brash British flick.

There are few mainstream film festivals in Australia willing to open with such an in your face genre flick such as writer-director Joe Cornish's aliens Vs. South London smash, Attack the Block, but in true northern style, BIFF have done just that.The Edgar Wright-produced film had its Australian premiere at BIFF on Thursday 3 November and if the packed out cinemas and whooping laughter heard throughout was anything to go by, the audience had a blast.   

The opening scene, which would not be totally out of place in an episode of The Wire, shows a young woman Sam (Jodie Whittaker, recently in Lone Scherfig's One Day) being mugged late at night by the boys from the Block: Moses (John Boyega), Pest (Alex Esmail), Jerome (Leeon Jones), Dennis (Franz Drameh), and Biggz (Simon Howard). Their trip down grifter lane is interrupted when a meteor blows up the car next to them and Moses is attacked by The Creature, vowing revenge. As it turns out, hunting it down and killing it mercilessly before dragging the corpse to 'boss' Hi-Hatz's (Jumayne Hunter) apartment in the Block: not the best idea. He should have just stayed home and played FIFA that night.

From this point, Cornish and Co. turn up the volume and delight audiences with a series of frenzied chase scenes—using anything the boys have handy, including BMXs, pizza-delivery bikes, scooters—to try and evade the aliens and protect their turf. Their spars with both the creatures and Hi-Hatz add a nice multilayered energy to the film, as the boys talk shit, formulate a plan, and rampage through the place like they're in a game of Grand Theft Auto (but with infinitely better dialogue and storylines). Nick Frost puts in a dry, hilarious turn as Ron, faithful employee of Hi-Hatz, and Luke Treadaway is charming as upper-middle class rich boy with a mild drug habbit and degree in Zoology (or similar), Brewis.

Shot entirely at night, there's more than a trifle of sci-fi ambience created by cinematographer Thomas Townend (we particularly enjoyed the use of the fireworks near the elevator while they're bracing for more creatures to emerge), which does more than just pay homage to sci-fi classics such as E.T. Topped off with a pumping score by Steven Price and Basement Jaxx and a rowdy rap & R&B soundtrack, Attack the Block offers laughs, action, and thrills aplenty, with a little gore thrown in for good measure. Allow it.

Attack the Block will be released in Australia on 1 December, 2011.

To check out the full program or for further details about the festival running 3 -13 November, please head here.