Down Terrace has been likened to the TV show The Sopranos for the familiar tropes of paranoid crime families in a dangerous situation, but really it is more akin to the brutal film Gomorrah; not due to the grit and realism but because it is very much an outside the box concept of the mob that cinema normally portrays.
The story follows son Karl (played to schizophrenic heights
by Robin Hill) and Bill (another Hill family member, Robert) his father who picks him up and takes him home after he has
spent some time in prison. The credits read "performed
by", and much like the claustrophobic film 44 Inch Chest this feels like a play not a movie as it is confined
to the families home for the most part as odd and suspicious characters drop in
and out to pay respect and drop bad news in equal measure.
The film flows in a day by day escalation and covers a week
and a half. Karl is a man-child who is initially totally dependent on his
patriarchs; his mum Maggie (Julia Deakin
on par with Jacki Weaver's Janine from
the film Animal Kingdom in terms of
cold and calculating) makes tea in the kitchen and smiles to herself with his
dad Bill being respected by all. A friend of the family Garvey (Tony Way) is made out to be the flunkey
and servant and despite the respect he gives even he is not safe from the
traitorous vicious ways of the family. Banter continues in the living room,
conversations move from Bill's past to recreational drug use, spawning
philosophical mutterings, "the lens of
goodness, truth and beauty" is a lens that none of them possess even though
Bill believes in it. The conversation finally turns to who the informant may or
may not be that was responsible for putting Karl away.
Karl's conflicted and complex relationship with his father
escalates when his casual partner Valda suddenly knocks on their door; she is
with child and all Karl seems concerned about is what his dad thinks. Karl's
instability comes out in random bursts; screams of obscenity when he cannot
find some papers in his room turn to utter calm when he realises where they
are. His father is no different, they leaf through a photo album together and
it contains no pictures of Karl.
Bill tells Garvey he feels sick inside concerning the death
of his father, Garvey believes he was murdered and because of this becomes a
target and a heartless analysis that turns him into a loose end, although
Garvey's fate is completely unexpected.
The insanity continues with this mixed up family world when
they bring in an assassin, an Irish family man that takes his child with him
wherever he goes. Karl brings his girlfriend Valda to dinner in another scene and
his mum rants about her plate and the story behind the picture on it; it is a
violent unhappy story through which she is basically making threats through her
own cutlery while Karl cooks in the background. These scenes reflect the
suburban family life turned upside down and given a criminal twist.
Things become extreme as the days pass and no one is safe. Down Terrace is an extremely black
comedy with scenes of familial slaughter that are so inane that they are funny.
Close-ups of the door knocker in the shape of a fox represent all the sly and
cunning that lies behind it. As confusion and carnage spiral into chaos, the
brutal truth hits Karl hard and he prepares to take the ultimate measure. "It's not the decisions Bill, it's the
actions" Maggie says to her husband after the London crime boss sends them
a message and the foreboding is laid on thick and heavy as the true informer is
revealed. The Down in the title reflects the countryside of this simple town,
the Terrace the house and between both locations death and betrayal comes in
spades.
Down Terrace is a
highly unusual mob film which focuses on personal and family issues while the actual
profitability and functions of the 'business' is barely spoken about and mostly conducted in
the background. All morals, ethics and values of right and wrong are thrown out
the window, and all relationships no matter how close are questioned with
brutality. It is a strange but highly enjoyable concept, quick witted in
execution and shockingly funny from start to finish.