This intriguing wee drama is the feature film debut of Canadian writer/director Arran Shearing and its main attribute is that it is a wonderful visual look at London’s East End. It’s a drama about a drama that gets a little messy along the way but still has enough fine points to recommend it.
It’s the tale of an amateur theater group that is comprised mainly of homeless people who are just nights away from the opening night of their new production. Their lead actor Carl (Obi Abili) currently on parole from prison leaves the rehearsal in the rather smart suit that is his stage costume, and gets picked up be Meredith (Eleanor McLoughlin) a wealthy American in town to attend a Funeral.
Meredith has no idea of Carl’s circumstances and invites him to lunch at her Aunt’s (Jerry Hall) that day. Totally out of his depth in this crowd, he now finds himself acting another role off the stage as an attempt to fit in. It’s a role that he prefers much more than in the play. and so he skips the next few days of rehearsals to hang out with Meredith.
It’s only when at the last moment that he decides to be in the play for opening night which Meredith of course happens to be in the audience blissfully unaware that one of the homeless actors is the man she has been bedding for a couple of nights.
What Forgotten Man lacks in plot and clarity it makes up for in some spirited performances, and of course the scenes on location in the East End, where there are still pockets of areas where the wealthy newer inhabitants rub shoulders with the old local poor ones. Just normally in real life, they don’t tend to date them.
To find out where you can see this film check out https://www.forgottenmanfilm.com/
Labels: 2017, black and white, British, drama, London
