Young Soul Rebels (1991) User Reviews

Good film! Especially when its intentions are understood

[rase_97 · 7/10 · 19 April 2006]

I am currently writing a paper on this film and another for one of my film classes, Topics in National Cinemas, as it was one of the films we examined. While perusing this page for certain information I needed i happened to read the previous comment that someone had posted regarding what they thought of the film.

While reading this individual's comments it occurred to me that they COMPLETELY misunderstood the film and what it set out to challenge and address. This film is NOT a murder mystery. Yes, a murder occurs and sets off the story, but it is no more essential to the plot than is the youth in a coma in La Haine (Kassovitz, 1995). Like La Haine, this film sets out to address social issues pertaining to race, class, positioning in the political landscape, and, unlike La Haine, sexuality (which seemed to greatly disturb the previous individual who posted).

Young Soul Rebels examines the social landscape of late 1970s Britain, and particularly how it affects youths within the greatly marginalized "Black" culture. It confronts issues of diaspora, through the juxtaposition of different aspects of the "Black" culture, as in the rastas working at the garage, compared with the two, funk obsessed (and much more "Afro-English") main characters. It also looks at the intersection at which certain sub-cultural borders collide, as in the Punks, the Funks, and the Reggaes, as well as Hetero and Homosexuality. Ultimately this notion of collision is key to understanding this film for what it is, which is precisely identities in collision. If the previous individual who posted had understood this, then they would have also seen how the murderer's motives implied this idea of identity collision, were driven by it and pertained more to it than to reading the film as a simple "whodunnit." In this light, you'll also find that music drives the film, both as a signifier for identities, and as an expression of them. Music is certainly an essential component to this film.

For more information regarding the issues this film juggles, and for a greater understanding of its concepts and meanings, look at the writings of Paul Gilroy, particularly his book "Ain't No Black in the Union Jack," and the film's director, Isaac Julien.

Young Soul Rebels

[CinemaSerf · 5/10 · 26 August 2023]

I'm afraid that this is a bit all over the place. In attempting to deal with multiple issues simultaneously it ends up doing justice to none of them well. A man is killed why cruising for gay sex in a local park and the subsequent investigation tries to deal with racism, sexism and homophobia amongst both the local community and the police. At times it is a love story - platonic and sexual between friends and lovers but the lines are blurred and the conflict seems largely manufactured. The performances are clunky and the script likewise. Sorry, but too much of a hutch-potch for me to make much sense of.

Good feeling

[noitsme_habibi · 7/10 · 13 October 2002]

Been a long time since I saw this movie, but whenever I think of it, or even just hear that song from the soundtrack, I feel all happy and <ahem> gay. Funny thing is, I went back to see what I'd noted about it at the time (1991), and apparently I'd only considered it a so-so film!

So, yes, perhaps the story line was a bit flimsy, perhaps all of the movie didnt amount to a whole much ... but if the memory of it still makes me smile after ten years, it must've been a lot better than I'd originally realised! ;-)

Aged really badly

[laduqesa · 3/10 · 27 September 2022]

Unfortunately by choosing to set the film in such a specific time it has lost relevance. Added to the utterly clunky script and the dire and wooden acting it makes me wonder if and how the film ever was a success.

The murder angle was a complete mystery to me. Why did it happen? How come the victim didn't recognise the killer? That the murder and its (sort of) solving framed the film seemed totally extraneous. Why didn't Chris also get murdered?

Between this we got a disconnected story of a couple of black lads one of whom was openly gay and seemingly not getting stick for it on his rough council estate.

Lovemaking scenes - both gay and straight ones - were vastly unconvincing especially between Caz and his new punk amour. After this latter all I could think was "Was that all?".

I watched this because of an article in the Guardian detailing the "20 Best LGB Films". A couple of the choices on the list surprised me and I didn't think they deserved to be there. Nor does this dreadful effort either.

Flawed, but from the heart.

[oldskool72 · 10/10 · 25 June 2002]

Firstly, lets get the negatives ironed out and set the record straight.

Yes, the plot gets a bit lost towards the end, yes some of the acting is questionable, yes some of the storyline is a little far fetched. If we judged every film we saw on those merits alone we'd be very shallow people! Thank heavens British Cinema gets away with making films like this, that represent British History, Culture and lifestyle in a non-conformist, sensitive and "path less trodden" view.

Yes it has a gay story line... and to correct another review only ONE of the two central characters is gay. What sets this film apart if we are discussing it within the genre of "Gay films" is that it tackles the delicate issue of men of Afro-Caribbean descent being gay in an interesting and uncompromising way. It doesn't pander to our expectations/stereotypical view of gay men, and utilises the sexuality angle as an integral part of the whole plot. "Jeffery" it aint! Nuff Said!

The whole story is set in the Summer of 1977 - the Queens Silver Jubilee. Chris & Caz run "Soul Patrol" - a pirate radio station that plays Jazz Funk - marginalised at the time by Punk and Reggae. One of their close friend's is murdered in the park, and Chris finds a piece of evidence as to who the killer is.

The film is Directed by Isaac Julien, who was shortlisted for a Turner Prize recently (2002) (A prestigious UK award within the art community) Julien has captured, by use of location (Dalston - East London) Lighting (capturing the hot summer of '77 perfectly) and Music (the soundtrack is a gem - Roy Ayers, Funkadelic, Blackbyrds etc) a mood and feeling that I've felt from no other film.

In some ways "Young Soul Rebels" was ahead of its time, and was badly marketed and has been aired very little since its release in 1991. Its "Celebration & Integration" message is how we now live, as a mixed race/sexuality culture here in the Major towns of the UK today... it seems such a shame to mis-label it "A gay film" when there is clearly more to it than that.

rebels without a clue

[buckaroobanzai50 · 31 January 2003]

I saw this film shortly after it's release, and felt quite cheated. It's title and advertising gave me the impression that it would be about the black DJ sound systems and soul scene which was at it's height in England during the late '70s and early '80s. But this only took up a fraction of film time. Instead, I had to sit through a convoluted sub-plot featuring a murder mystery which appeared all of a sudden during the movie, a very gratuitous gay sex scene, and generally bad acting and direction. There were a few moments where the protagonists had brushes with the law, and I thought at last this film was going somewhere and would depict the racism of the justice system accurately. But this was not the case, and these scenes appeared to have been either badly written, or edited. And when one character deceides to carry out his own murder investigation, I found it laughable. I understand that no film can be 100% accurate when depicting an era or events around it, and that it should be entertaining to the viewer. But at least a good attempt should be made to get the basics right. For example, hardly any of the black male actors sported an afro hairstyle or wore flares, which would have been as common as a rainy day in London during 1977. Blacks mixing with Punks? I'm no sure about that. They would have considered a lot of Punks to be similar to the skinheads which carried out a lot of racist attacks at that time. Also another sex scene featuring Sophie Okenedo and Valentine Nonyela, was not handled well at all, and was certainly not as explicit as the previous gay sex scenes which says a lot about it's director. By trying to show that homosexuality in the black british community is opposed more than in the white, I feel is absolute nonsense. Homophobia has no colour preference, and being black, it's director Isaac Julien should know better really.

Very Poorly Conceived Movie

[Theo Robertson · 2/10 · 15 January 2006]

Remember the 1966 movie BLOWUP ? That's the movie that claims to be a murder thriller but is nothing of the sort . YOUNG SOUL REBELS is basically the same , it starts with a murder in a park then spends most of its running time going out of its way not to be a murder thriller except for the last five minutes which reveals who the murderer is . I'm surprised anyone is still able to remember or care about the murder subplot by the end of the movie since it concentrates more on the soul club scene of the late 1970s . Worse it features several scenes of men kissing and in one scene there's something a lot worse than kissing going on

Before anyone goes running to the admin screaming that a raving homophobe has submitted a review let me point out that BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN has received massive critical acclaim ( Though it's unlikely to make more than 50 million dollars at the US box office ) so much for homophobia . What my main gripe the opening and closing scene revolves around a murder and very little in between has anything to do with the alleged main story . There is no main story as we see a rambling ill focused film concerning itself with the club scene of 1977 . Ironically enough there's no feel of time or place here and could easily be set in any part of Britain at any point during the last 30 years

This is just another cheaply made British movie that was produced by people who have no desire to make movies for a mainstream audience . If they had decided to make a movie revolving around a murder in a park that would have been fine , ditto if they had decided to make a movie revolving around the London soul scene but seeing as they've tried to combine the two YOUNG SOUL REBELS is a failure while the scenes of homosexuality is totally alienating for the average cinema goer . At least BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN deserves credit for knowing what it is

An accurate picture of the times.

[bernarddaly · 9/10 · 12 November 2013]

I am amazed at the lack of knowledge displayed by the previous reviewer. I first saw this film in the 90s and watched it again last night. I was part of this general scene in southern England at that time and I have to say that the music, dancing and fashions are completely accurate. This nonsense about Afros and flares, that belonged in the early 70s, by 77 all that had changed. And yes, punks and soul boys were mixing in the clubs, fashions crossed over even earlier, the plastic "jelly" sandals and winkle picker shoes, all adopted from the punks in late 76/77.If anybody had walked in with flares there would have been howls of laughter.

Aside from a fairly hot gay sex scene this is pretty bad

[preppy-3 · 1/10 · 20 August 2012]

I caught this way back in 1991 at an art house. I had no idea what it was about but the gay papers were advertising it to a ridiculous degree. I thought it might be about gay men in London but it wasn't. It was about a bunch of largely uninteresting characters in the 1970s Britain. It threw in homosexuality, racism, murder...basically anything it could think of and ended up quite a mess. The plot kept veering all over the place never settling on a consistent tone. The acting was pretty bad too. There was however a hot male on male sex scene. Nothing explicit--it was mostly just a lot of kissing and no shots from the waist down. This was the only sequence that caught my attention and the only part that had any heat or passion. Aside from that this is a mess.

young soul rebels

[sianladybaby · 8/10 · 21 November 2009]

firstly this film has some mistakes in it,i was a soul girl back int he day,punks and soul boys weren't pally,but not enemies either,the didn't go to the same clubs,the fashion is correct but the music is out of time ,some of the music came out maybe up to 2 years later,that apart it does pick up the atmosphere of the day and the vibe and is at least acknowledging the soul scene,and the cult of soul boys and girls ,a major thing,but very unknown which is odd,i guess the write must have a bit of info of the movement,still as a fun film its OK and does bring a few

memories i think unless you were part of the scene you would find this

a bit dull,it is hollow ,but the clothes and dancing are all spot on,although gay guys did have there own disco clubs,again fairly underground as back then it wasn't as tolerated as it is,rightly so,now as so many other films have been made about punks and skinheads it god to see a movie reflecting a little known but extremely popular movement

Johnny Mills as the guest gay kissing punk ( red top ) is a highlight

[johnny-mills-393-825082 · 10/10 · 14 April 2021]

Johnny Mills , as one of the skinhead kissing gay punks in the night club , is the highlight of this movie. He also appeared with Tilda Swinton in Derek Jarman's The Garden 1990.

Counter-culture mish-mash

[lor_ · 21 June 2023]

My review was written in May 1991 after a screening in the International Critics Week section of the Cannes Film Festival.

Too many ingredients are mixed in the stew of Isaac Julien's debut pic "Young Soul Rebels", an intermittently entertaining saga of countercultures in 1977 London.

Picture's London black milieu and murder mystery plotlines recall the classic Janet Green-scripted "Sapphire" over 30 years ago, but Julien keeps digressing from the main story to cover interesting yet tangential topics.

Theme, hammered away between musical or romantic interludes, concerns many forms of intolerance and stereotyping. Blacks and gays are the key protagonists, while ohter subgrps liek punks , soul music fans in Britain, half-castes (a theme echoing "Sapphire") and even Scottish nationalists are given attention.

Chris (Valentine Nonyela) and Caz (Mo Sesay) are two fledgling deejays broadcasting from the pirate radio station WEFUNK a form of black-oriented disco music. Their friend Terry James is murdered by a white man during a homosexual tryst in the park. Chris accidentally obtains an audio tape of the murder from TJ's boombox.

Chris halfheartedly tries to break into the mainstream via Metropolitan radio station, where he meets and romances a beautiful production assistant Tracy (Sophie Okonedo). Caz is revealed to be gay, and splits from his long-time partner to take up with a punk-styled white deejay Billibud (James Durr).

With Queen Elizabeth's Silver Jubilee as a backdrop (and target for frequent satire of the establishment) pic establishes its thriller credentials at the outset but is poorly paced. Director Julien's inclusion of homoserotic love scenes is no longer a cinematic novelty, yet their placement distracts from the main narrative (especially a lengthy bed scene of Caz and Billibud late in the film).

Styling of aggressively androgynous Valentine Nonyela in the central hetrerosexual role misleads rather than adds to the film's relentless attack on stereotypes.

Pic's most successful element is Nina Kellgren's high-contrast lighting that gives it a modern, futuristic look. Nostalgia content is covered by disco-era music ranging from Roy Ayers to War plus dancing to match. After the most obvious murder suspect is identified and in lame duck fashion disposed of, Julien adds a friendly ensemble dance scene for closure that doesn't ring true.

Young cast is attractive and enthusiastic and Frances Barber guests in a droll turn as Chirs' free =psirited white mom. Frequent male crotch (clothed) closeups a la Pasolini and the homosexual mileu should limit as well as define the film's potential audience. Some thick accents (French subtitles at Cannes definitely helped comprehension) are a drawback to Stateside acceptance.