Review of Rumble Fish (1983) by Reece L — 24 Oct 2015
The characters in Rumble Fish are relics of the past, the last remaining stragglers from a period of large-scale gang violence who now sit around all day looking for any excuse to relive what they either experienced or have heard about from their older siblings.
Rusty James leads this group, a young teenager hiding his own insecurities and feelings of inferiority towards his older brother behind empty bravado; this is the main idea Rumble Fish deals with, the nature of urban youth carrying out violence simply due to their proximity to each other and their relationships with previous generations.
Coppola creates an industrial, expressionistic world for these characters to live in, a sweltering pressure-cooker that forces violence out of its bored inhabitants photographed in black and white and directed in a kinetic, experimental style.
This provides compelling context, elevating what is essentially a standard "we've got to get out of this town" story.
This review of Rumble Fish (1983) was written by Reece L on 24 Oct 2015.
Rumble Fish has generally received positive reviews.
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