The tragedy of life's outsiders

Rating: 9/10 (17 February 2006)

This is the most intense film I have seen, depicting four individuals whose lives descend into absolute disaster. The film-making is superb, with scenes and sounds rapidly following each other, giving the impression that the lives of these poor people are being acted out within a giant musical or opera, with an unforgettable crescendo towards the end of the film. I felt a great deal of empathy with the troubled characters as their dreams painfully morphed into complete nightmares, which is sadly what life can sometimes bring. I would strongly recommend this film, because like anything inspired by Hubert Selby Jnr, it takes on unreported territory and laments the lives of those who become society's outsiders.