Review for Diary of a Bad Lad

If Shane Meadows and Nick Broomfield teamed up to make a British version of Man Bites Dog, this would be the result: Filmmaker Barry Lick wants to make a documentary about local 'businessmen' Tommy Morghen. Tommy is more astute and cold-blooded than Barry first imagined and uses the filmmaker and his crew for his own devious enterprise. Because Barry is so preoccupied with his breakthrough film ('we got to keep filming'), he loses touch with his moral code and ultimately puts everyone's life in jeopardy. It is impossible to distinguish between fantasy and reality in Diary of a Bad Lad; it is a film with genuine people, genuine moments and genuine locations. What makes this documentary-style thriller electrifying is we do not know what is constructed and what is natural as we delve into the abyss of the underworld - death, drugs, prostitution, pornography, property rackets, crime, violence and rape. The stark realism, naturalistic acting and hand-held camera give this artificial documentary an exciting, fresh and provocative mood. This is cinema as insanity - Guy Ritchie and his fictitious east-end gangsters aint all that. This is northern brutality at its best and worst. This could be the future of British filmmaking (and it only cost five-thousand-pounds).

Also included with this DVD are blogs on the fictitious filmmakers, an extended intro, extra footage, video diaries, a featurette on documentary filmmaking, interview snippets with Mad Tony, a radio spot and if you put the DVD into a PC or laptop, you can access a 174-page Bad Lad novel and a written statement by 'gangster' Tommy Morghen.

For more information visit the website: www.badladthemovie.com