Review of Harry Brown (2009) by Isa D — 04 Dec 2014

Harry Brown is one of the finest films I have ever seen about the existential dilemma of modern urban life. Not only does Michael Caine give one of the consummate performances of his career, with integrity, nuance and a quiet power which allows the viewer, through his eyes, to witness what it is about when poor, aging, and facing total societal decay, but the screenplay is very well written and the story is riveting. The loneliness and starkness of Harry Brown's life, with his beloved wife in the last phases of Alzheimer disease, his one friend, Len, played by the excellent David Bradley, and the lawless but absolute control of the "estate housing" or public projects in a nameless place in the UK by a gang of teens and young men seemingly without souls or any moral compass. Their occupations are seemingly to deal drugs, arms and young women, intimidate and bully and murder the men, women and children of the area. And the police, shown very realistically, because completely ineffective in protecting the tenants.

Sadly, this is part of what is happening all over the world. Unemployed and futureless boys on the cusp of manhood are infantilized and often without father figures capable of teaching them what it is to be a man, to protect, to be noble.

In a "Lord of the Flies" type hierarchy they are depicted in the film as remorseless and disrespectful, vicious and displaying such misogyny that they shoot down a young mother with her pram just for fun in the opening of the movie.

The police are so inadequate in their response, so tied up in a blinding bureaucracy that we buy in completely to the later actions taken by our "hero", Harry Brown. We root for him at all moments as he expresses in his actions what we all would secretly wish to do. Get the bad guys who are the seed of Satan in the modern urban landscape. We might be bleeding heart liberals and feel and understand in a sophisticated way why some turn to crime. But this is about those who have relinquished any connection to the civilizing forces of society. Their anger has taken them over the edge and they are monsters. They are unredeemable.

I suppose some did not like that characterization. Too black and white. But there is a truth to it which allows all the white slaving and sexual trafficking, the unreported rapes and domestic abuse of extreme nature which indeed exists, the bullying and random crime. As a psychologist I clearly understand that some people are psychopaths and I can understand that extreme childhood trauma can create human beings so cut off from any normal human emotion that they become, in the right situation, like monsters. Serial killers, gangsters.

As I age I see how bleak it all has become, the breakdown of family and neighborhood, the fearful apathy even here in Europe where family is still a huge common value.

This movies covers it all with subtle brilliance. The acting is such beyond excellent. I recommend seeing this film more than once, as I have, to truly appreciate its excellence. I saw it in 2010, when it came out in the cinema, and then again today, in late 2014.

Michael Caine should have gotten the Oscar for this role.And this is a movie that makes one think. Can we truly expect that the "law abiding" people should just stand back while their children are raped, bullied, murdered or recruited by gangs, which are themselves but the arms of organized crime rings. Is it right to let the often inept, understaffed and obtuse police departments respond alone knowing we will often be dead before they finally respond to the emergency calls.

When they don't just take care of these problems, because they are "whack a mole" type problems, is vigilantism the answer in some cases?

Thought provoking to say the least. Because which is more dangerous? Which kills a community more?