Week 12: NEDS (2010) Review

NEDS is a film written and directed by Peter Mullan. This film focuses on life in Glasgow in 1972. The main character within NEDS is John McGill and this film highlights his struggle to show his potential because of the bad reputation of his brother. Before he reached Middle School he was receiving high grades, but the bad reputation of his brother has made the teachers have low expectations of him. His brother got in a lot of trouble in school and was known as the 'gang leader'. This is the reason why the teachers has such low expectations of John and didn't allow him to prove them wrong. Therefore he started to act like his brother as the teachers did not expect any more of him. His family life might have also reflected the way him and his brother acted as his father is an acoholic, not making him very interested within his education.
NEDS had some great young British actors. Conor McCarron won 2 awards for his performance within NEDS. These awards were Young British Performer of the Year at the London Critics Circle Film Awards and Best Actor at the San Sebastian International Film Festival. This was the only main film Conor has starred in and I believe he excelled with the character he portrayed within the film. He was able to portray a teenager in 1970's Glasgow and represent the type of life which is led at this time. Many of the other young actors such as Joe Szula who played Benny have not been in any other films before or after NEDS. This could reflect the fact that this is a British film, therefore the actors are not recognised by the audience. Although, I do believe all of the actors and actresses within NEDS were very good in the characters they portrayed.
I believed this film highlighted the troubles with gangs in 1970's Glasgow. It also highlighted the educational system such as the cane, which is a punishment which is not used nowadays. I learnt a lot about the 1970's through this film and understand the difference of life then and now.
NEDS is a British film written and directed by an award winner. The smallest details within this film such as the fashion of the 70's is excellent. All of these types of details help the viewer 'escape' into the 1970's within this film.