The Tribe [DVD]

A junior executive at a London based property development firm is given a task: convince some holdouts in an extremely rough part of town to sell so the company can thoroughly gentrify the area. The tenants are what appears to be a cult. Everybody dresses in black, they go everywhere together, and the local hoodlums are terrified of them. They are led by a charismatic woman who can see right through the executive. She also has the ability to teleport to wherever there is trouble so they can save the day.Of course the protagonist finds out that they don't really have much dirt he can use against them, and that in fact the tendency of the hot young women to agree to have sex with him seems like something of a bonus. So predictably he wants to join them instead of destroy them.It's pretty by the numbers even as far as weird cult movies go. There is a side plot about a rival cult that kinda sorta gets resolved. There is apparently some British thing where you can be evicted from your house for being too immoral even if you have not broken any laws.The ending however really falls apart. The cult leader loses her superpowers and just completely falls apart. The other cult plotline is resolved in a nonsensical way. The shocking but inevitable Judas scene barely makes any more sense. Then there is the weird breakdown scene that seems like a total reversal of the cult lady's entire character for seemingly no reason at all. The final ending it pure WTF.For me the worst part is that in my head I was thinking about half a dozen different and more interesting ways the film could go but it stuck with the dullest and most obvious plot progression. I was very disappointed that the other cult members didn't turn out to all be other property developers that had been seduced by the cult leader. I would have also been fine if it had gone in a more Wicker Man direction. The actual ending is just such a wet fart that it cost the movie a star from me.

This movie probably makes more sense if one is British, since they still have a rigid class structure. Jamie is given the job of evicting a group out of a building on the edge of a very seedy area of London, so the buildings can be converted to desirable housing for the upper class. The people living there dress the same and seem very much like a cult. Jamie tries to find out what makes them tick, as they reject better offers, and also about them. They say they have an open house, and he tells them two days that would work badly for him. Naturally they tell him it is one of those days. He cannot eat 48 hours prior, and have an AIDs test. He is really being manipulated, but also under pressure to get them out. They really rope him in, yet he is under great pressure to force them out. After his open house visit, he still has to prepare an update on what is happening, and he hasn’t prepared anything. They tell him to B.S. it, as they won’t know the difference. And they are right. But can the group prevail, and what are they really about?

Like many, I first became aware of this made-for-TV movie due to all the hype over Anna Friel's nude scene. And if that's what you want to watch it for, well, you'll get what you want, and very pretty it is too. But after that, there's actually a very engaging story.*Slight Spoilers Ahead*The gist of the story is that Jamie (Jeremy Northam) is tasked by his overbearing boss with driving out the legitimate tenants of a building that the boss wishes to redevelop. The tenants appear to be some sort of cult: they stride around as a group in black-trenchcoat style (remember, this was released a year before The Matrix), are feared by the local ruffians, and make their living selling top-of-the-range electronic goods at criminally cheap prices. Jamie sets out to discover their secret: are they indeed criminals, are they a religious cult, are they into drugs, or what? And the secret is - that there is no secret. The movie is essentially about the gently charismatic and well-intentioned Emily (Joely Richardson) who sets up a community with a different way of life. There are no drugs; the goods are obtained legitimately from a Japanese businessman who has a crush (either romantic or ideological) on Emily; and while there is a certain sexual freedom (that gives Ms Friel the opportunity for her legendary scene), it is by no means a sex cult.What the community offers its members more than anything else is safety; safety built on an illusion maintained by Emily. When this illusion starts to crack, so does the community - and so, to some extent, does Emily herself. Astute at puncturing the image of a rival 'cult' leader, she fails to realise when she is about to do the same to herself. It is left to Jamie to try and salvage something of the utopia he thinks he's found.More than anything else, this movie reminded me of The Beach; although very different in tone and setting, it comes across as a study of an alternative community combating the alienation and insecurities of modern urban life. More importantly, it describes the key people in the community, and their reactions to the pressures both of 'the real world' and of human nature. It drew me in not by unexpected plot twists, but by unexpectedly avoiding plot twists; although the story is engaging, it's more a portrait movie than plot-driven, and many loose ends and back-stories are left deliberately untied and unfilled without detracting from the overall pleasure of it.There's nothing spectacular about the acting, directing, or camera-work; it's all subtle, understated and simply allows the story to unfold. Rather like a Greek tragedy, only the central character has any great depth, and Joely Richardson does a superb job of bringing her to life.I enjoyed this movie much more than I expected; it's a great pity it has still only been released in Region 1 (US) and not in its native UK. It's original, it's thought-provoking, and I thoroughly recommend it.

A big bussiness corporation wants to develope a big project in a seedy neighborhood.the male lead is sent to find anything that can get the tenants to move out.the tenants are kind of a cult lead by Joely richardson who all dress in black.they refuse to be bought out but have no real vices other then working together and living in harmony.the bussiness man sent to spy on them falls in love with the leader of the cult and their lifestyle.i really enjoyed the first three fourths of the movie then it turns predictable as the cult is destoyed by another cult they are trying to save and one of the peaceful cult members is a spy looking out for her own welfare which results in a false story being written about them.As the peaceful cult falls apart the other members see the faults of their leader and leave and the apartment is destoyed by the corporation

Had to buy on US Import due to lack of availability in the UK. Thankfully it is still unaltered and interesting to see how the story progresses.

GOOD FILM

anna friel unsung heroine and a great bbc film

Very good quality and very good customer service. Would recommend

I love the work of Jonathan Rhys Meyers, the quality of the product was excellent, the service too, thanks alot xxx