Mangrove (2020)- BFI London Film Festival 2020

Review

124min

Genre:       Drama, Fact-Based

Director:     Steve McQueen

Cast:         Shaun Parkes, Letitia Wright, Malachi Kirby…and more

Writers:     Steve McQueen and Alastair Siddons

-Synopsis-

Tired of unprovoked police harassment and a legal system which treats them as second class visitors, the West-Indian community in West London clashes with the local cops after unwarranted raids on a local restaurant and community meeting place, putting nine activists in the crosshairs of the courts and escalating an ongoing fight for racial equality on the streets of 1970 Britain.

After transitioning from award-winning visual artist to Oscar-winning director/producer and earning his reputation as one of the most soulful filmmakers of the last decade or so, telling harrowing human tales which spanned ‘The Troubles’ in Northern Ireland to melancholy modern day New York, the 19th century Antebellum South to corrupt contemporary Chicago—Steve McQueen returns home. Teaming up with the BBC and Amazon and heading to the small screen to very personally recount the West-Indian experience in Cold War era UK, illuminating the immigrant struggles which helped to shape multi-cultural Britain and mould the lives of millions of black Britons.

Shaun Parkes stars as Notting Hill resident Frank Crichlow, owner of the ‘Mangrove’ Caribbean restaurant/local meeting spot who becomes a reluctant activist when his business draws the unwarranted attention of racist constable Frank Pulley (Sam Spruell) and the local police, turning his haunt into a meeting place for aspiring Trinidadian lawyer Darcus Howe (Malachi Kirby), young West-Indian activist Altheia Jones-Lecointe (Letitia Wright), and other locals tired of being victimised and oppressed by a system not made for them. As they take to the streets and are forced into a conflict with law enforcement which brands them criminals, setting up a legal clash with the state which would fuel the fight for race equality and police accountability for generations to come.

‘Mangrove’ might be the opening episode of McQueen’s upcoming mini-series ‘Small Axe’—a five episode Anthology about the struggles of the black West-Indian community in the London of the late 1960s to the early 80s—but at over two hours long it’s practically a feature film in itself. A standalone story of immigration, community and discrimination, and a self-contained real-life period chronicle of a key moment in the ongoing struggle against racial injustice in Britain.

The story is set in the Notting Hill of the late 60s to early 70s, an area of West London transformed by a post-war wave of immigration from the Caribbean dubbed the ‘Windrush’ generation, but long since gentrified into a trendy and expensive neighbourhood. The drama meanwhile is centred around the ‘Mangrove’ restaurant, a community cafe and haven for London’s West-Indian community which became a symbol of the city’s black resistance to oppression, and the struggle against a rigid, prejudicial system not designed or ready for immigration or multiculturalism . . . or indeed the 20^th century.

As such McQueen and co-writer Alastair Siddons focus their pens and lenses on three key people—and those closest to them—who sparked the movement, led by the Mangrove’s owner and reluctant community leader Frank Crichlow. The hard working and humble Trinidadian immigrant pushed to the brink by prejudiced persecution and forced onto the frontlines of an ongoing struggle for racial equality—beautifully brought to life by a finely judged Shaun Parkes performance which sits as the everyman heart of the film.

The righteously indignant energy and youthful fervour meanwhile is brought by the younger activists of the piece, including then aspiring lawyer and future writer, broadcaster and Notting Hill Carnival chairman the late Darcus Howe, whose memory McQueen honours not only by the personal depiction but by the casting of Malachi Kirby to play him, who brings not only an uncanny resemblance to the role but also captures the man’s spirit. And the trio is completed by young Letitia Wright’s admirable and fitting turn as British Black Panther party member and activist Altheia Jones-Lecointe, who injects fiery youthful rebellion into the story, particularly in what could have been sterile courtroom scenes which end up being anything but.

Indeed ‘Mangrove’ does shift and flow in terms of both narrative and tone, particularly when it goes from a community social-realist story to a courtroom drama as the nine are plunged into a fight for their freedom. One which they take up with bravery and gusto and with a bold strategy of personal responsibility for their defence, a move which challenged the rigidity of a legal system not built for drama or change. A tactic which established a voice not heard before in the Old Bailey, and likely contributed to the unexpected and historic result in this landmark case.

McQueen makes sure that this period piece looks and sounds the part too, featuring fine costume and production designs to re-create the era and add further vibrancy to this cultural resurrection of the neighbourhood, while the spectre of rising council blocks looming in the distant background remind us of gentrification, and the avoidable tragedy of Grenfell. But that Caribbean culture truly comes off the screen with hip-swinging energy when the music of the film comes in, which is often, as a wistful and contemplative original score from the impressive Mica Levi (Under the Skin, Monos) often gives way to a soundtrack of irresistible Ska and Reggae.

There’s no denying that ‘Mangrove’ is a tale told from a very particular perspective, that of the Mangrove Nine and the West-Indian community, and as such it’s one side of the story which paints what are considered the antagonists—the British police and the legal system (if not society overall)—with a largely one-dimensional brush, framing the racist, resentful and cowardly PC Pulley as a villain who unfortunately represented the mentality of some of the white majority. But then again that’s sort of the point of this film and McQueen’s ‘Small Axe’ series. To tell true stories from a Black British perspective, giving a large voice to the previously voiceless, and remind us—uncomfortable as it may be—of who we were, are, and want to be. And given what’s going on in the streets of the UK and across the pond, it’s something that’s as timely and necessary as ever.

The Bottom Line…

A righteously indignant meditation on being black in Britain and soulful chronicle of a key moment in the fight for racial equality in the UK, ‘Mangrove’ proves to be a vibrant and worthy opening to Steve McQueen’s very personal anthology—taking the London filmmaker back to his roots and setting him on course to make a big splash on the small screen.

‘Mangrove’ airs in the UK on the 15th of November on the BBC, and in the US on the 20th of November on Amazon Prime.

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