I saw this film yesterday in Greenwich, London. The film was very dark and bleak in many places, the atmosphere in the cinema reflected this - people were concentrating on the film rather than talking amongst themselves which is surely a good thing.
The subject matter of the movie wasn't lighthearted in any way, and the director had chosen to use an enormous variety of narratives in order to tell the story - it required a lot of concentration to keep up with the constantly shifting styles. In other words, it was pretty hard going. But at the same time it was very realistic and showed the incredibly rough lifestyle that some children are simply born into, and their struggles to survive.
My only criticism is that whenever the film skips into the future, the adult actors look absolutely nothing like their younger teenage counterparts with only one exception; Laurie. This totally suspends the audience's belief in the film.
The subject matter of the movie wasn't lighthearted in any way, and the director had chosen to use an enormous variety of narratives in order to tell the story - it required a lot of concentration to keep up with the constantly shifting styles. In other words, it was pretty hard going. But at the same time it was very realistic and showed the incredibly rough lifestyle that some children are simply born into, and their struggles to survive.
My only criticism is that whenever the film skips into the future, the adult actors look absolutely nothing like their younger teenage counterparts with only one exception; Laurie. This totally suspends the audience's belief in the film.