Dir. Eran Creevy. UK. 2008. 90 mins.
Made for £100,
While set very clearly in London’s more unappealing suburbs - a fictional ‘Dudlowe’ - Shifty is reminiscent of recent urban French cinema such as Khamsa, and should be considered by festivals searching out hard-to-find grassroots British cinema, although its ending does have a shiny topspin which hints to a more commercial future for Creevy.
Its subject matter is familiar enough: 24 hours in the life of small-time drug dealer Shifty (Ahmed), working the local estate and its inhabitants. But Creevy gives it some spin. Shifty (Ahmed) is a Muslim of Pakistani extraction, the brightest boy in his class with four A-levels and living with his tough but loving older brother Rez (Ganatra) in a very comfortable middle-class home.
His childhood best friend Chris (Mays) returns from Manchester, ostensibly for a party, after a four-year absence, and there are hints as to some tragedy which may have forced Chris to flee.
But in the meantime, Shifty has a days’ dealing ahead of him: picking up his goods from local hood Glen (Flemyng, in a particularly startling nylon green v-neck jumper) and dealing them out to his customers who include a crack-addicted granny (Annis in an amusing cameo).
And then there’s Trevor (Simpson), father and hopeless addict, whose performance gives Shifty a frightening edge.
Ahmed is good in the lead role, while Mays’ character always seems as if there’s more there which is never voiced, even after the denouement. But it’s the characters on Shifty’s vital edge, from Ganatra to Simpson to Flemyng, that make the piece worthwhile.
Given the budget, production designer Erik Rehl has carried out an impressive job.
Production companies
Film London/Microwave
Between The Eyes
UK distribution
Metrodome
International sales
Protagonist Pictures
Producers
Rory Aitken
Ben Pugh
Cinematography
Ed Wild
Production design
Erik Rehl
Main cast:
Riz Ahmed
Daniel Mays
Jason Flemyng
Francesca Annis
Jay Simpson
Nitin Ganatra
No comments yet