Attack the Block and representation

 

 

Attack the Block is a low budget film by the director Joe Cornish and is about a gang of teenagers who mug a nurse on bonfire night and their South London estate is invaded by unwelcome aliens who fall from the sky, the gang launch themselves into a gritty yet humorous mission to save their estate. 

Attack the Block has quite dark lighting throughout, this adds to the effect and suspense within the film, also as it is shot at night time it makes it seem more suspicion as night time is supposedly when bad things happen, there is also a range of camera shots, editing and angles but not any over complicated ones for the narrative of the film to continue without disorientating the viewer which allows the viewer to engage with the film more.

In Attack the Block ethnicity plays a large role in this film as the main character(s) are mainly black teenagers which are shown as 'hoodies' which is a stereotype of black teenagers, the main protagonist in the film is called Moses (John Boyega) the name Moses is from the bible as Moses helps people to cross the sea whereas in Attack the  Block Moses is shown to mug people which juxtaposes what happens in the bible. Each of the characters are very different in personality and this is shown as the film progresses, this then challenges the ethnicity stereotypes and shows the gang to be more light-hearted than what was originally thought which allows the viewers to change their judgements about the characters. With the films starting by showing the gang as violent and the stereotypical muggers which then changes by the end of the film to show the gang as saving the Earth, well at least the South End of London, this completely changes the way the gang is portrayed, but throughout the film there are still a hint of the fact that the gang is still the stereotypical sort of gang by their use of violence and the way that they talk. The film shows he tension between different classes and races as the gang and the black characters are shown to be more aggressive and in charge, the white female in this film is shown to be reliant and dependent on the gang, this conforms to the stereotype of women as the stereotype is that they are not violent and are dependent on the stronger male figure. Director Joe Cornish used actors who hadn't been stage schooled, this could be because he wanted the film to appear as realistic and natural as it could be so that the audience engages more and feels as if it is more realistic or because he didn't have the budget to hire more highly trained actors.