Review of Rampage

Introduction

George Gittoes went to Iraq and filmed some US soldiers (amongst others) talking about their love of music and made this the basis of his film Soundtrack To War. One of the soldiers he filmed was a young black man called Elliott Lovett, and Elliott stated that he felt safer in Baghdad than he did in his hometown of Miami. This statement intrigued Gittoes and he decided to go to Miami the next time Elliott was on leave to see for himself.

What Gittoes didn`t realise is that Elliott and the Lovett family live in the Brown Sub area of Miami, a fair distance physically and a million miles away psychologically from the bright lights of Miami as seen on the likes of CSI Miami or Miami Vice. The area the family live in is a rough urban war zone with a long-standing rivalry between the Lovett family and friends in their `low-top` houses and an unnamed gang in the `high-top` area that backs onto it. A lot of the local housing is boarded up and abandoned, bullet holes marking the walls.

In the midst of this are three young men; Elliott the soldier, Marcus the rapper and Denzel the rising star. Rap is an important way of entertaining themselves in and also of communicating. Lyrically the raps are full of AK47`s and `dropping` people, but there`s also an ego thing involved too in not just having the nerve to rap with attitude but also to impress their friends and family.

Tension builds throughout the first half of this film until the inevitable tragedy occurs. The second half of this film is about bringing hope by trying to raise the profile of one of the clan as a future rapper who might just make it big in the music business.

Video

Picture is colourful and well-framed on HDV, some of the shots are right in-yer-face as Gittoes is trying to make his own rap movie and follows some of the basic camera moves for music videos. Gittoes also uses his son to help him out on a second camera and so we get revealing two camera shots framed on the screen at times, which is an interesting way of watching part of the story unfold.

Audio

Quite an ordinary soundtrack but one that knows when to raise the bar, gunshots cracking through extremely loud when the point needs to made about violence intruding on urban life. No subtitles for the main dialogue, but thankfully built-in subtitles come into play for a large number of the raps. I may not understand what the message is but at least I can read it…

Features

Interview with George Gittoes - quarter of an hour with the main man discussing his motivations and his relationship with the Lovett family

Lovetts and Brown Sub friends freestyling - extended scene that involves (you guessed it…) lots of rapping and not much else

Interview with Willy T and friends in `The Trap` - despite several explanations, I`m still no wiser as to what `The Trap` actually is…

Writing `Friday` - session in a recording studio writing a track called Friaday (oddly enough…)

Al & Demo interview Gittoes - Demo is Denzel`s MC name, and Al comments on just how comfortable Gittoes is within their environment

Interview with Rev. Johnny Davis - revealing interview with the Reverend and some friendly banter with some of the Lovett boys about his musical taste

Australia featurette - an extended scene where Demo and George are interviewed by Australian radio

Different Battlefields - Demo hooks up with an Aboriginal artist/rapper and the two duet with interesting results

DJ Lars with Elliott and Demo

Deal Or No Deal - a compilation of small segments around the possibility of Demo getting a deal, including a couple of Gittoes directed music videos

Characters - a slightly longer look at some of the characters who appear, including Janel from Soundtrack To War

Deleted Scenes - nothing that would have been better in, but interesting nonetheless

Trailer

Conclusion

I know nothing about rap, don`t listen to it and don`t understand it. That said, the one thing this film teaches me is that it`s about real life, too real in this case. I`d heard about this film shortly after looking at Soundtrack To War and the premise looked interesting. I didn`t really know what to expect though. What I got was a raw look at possibly one of the poorest places in the modern US culture. Everyone talks about the ghetto, but TV and film has a tendency to gloss over it. George Gittoes, an Australian filmmaker in his fifties, goes into the heart the Brown Sub ghetto in Miami and shows life as it really is.

What is quite remarkable about this film is that it shows life in the ghetto has two elements to it. The first is that it can be a harsh and dangerous life with no prospects and some of the very limited ways out are either through drugs, murder or in a coffin. The more life-affirming element though is how close family and friends really are, family and friends mean everything and the aspirations of those seeking a way out is simply to make enough money so that they can lift their family and friends out of their living environment to somewhere better and safer. I never realised it before, this film brought it home to me in a big way, most rappers have a huge posse because they take their friends with them when they make it. This is good, although it still very much promotes an `us versus them` attitude, stifling growth and maturity.

This film is very much in two parts. The first half is meeting back up with Elliott and being introduced to his family and two brothers. Tension is very much a part of this first half due to the rivalry with a nearby gang and general life in the ghetto, and whilst the tragedy that strikes is very much unexpected, the tension building makes you think that someone is probably going to die. It`s just a bit of a shock when you find out who it is. The second half is where Gittoes makes it his mission to try and help Demo escape from Brown Sub and tries to get him a record deal. It gives us a slight insight into the music world and not a pretty one either. Promises are made and never followed up on; it`s a sobering lesson for those looking for a similar escape. On the plus side, Demo`s album Rampage has been released in Australia to quite positive reviews. Not a sight of it on Amazon.com though…

A couple of things strike me most about this film. One is the incessant need to rap and spit out lyrics that talk of revenge and carrying `clips` and putting people down. I`m guessing the reason for this is two-fold; the first to look good in front of your friends (which is natural the world over) and the second to warn off potential enemies of your willingness to retaliate if required. I`ve never really thought on rap in that way before, but it`s really brought home here. The thing to hit me, was just how much at home Gittoes felt in the heart of black urban America. It clearly helped that he had struck up a rapport with Elliott and put him on the silver screen, but all his family and friends were at ease with him and the camera. Gittoes felt so at ease that he brought in his son to handle a second camera and the whole thing feel like a bit of a family affair.

The whole thing is quite incredible and unless I`ve got completely the wrong end of the stick, I have a much better appreciation for what drives a lot of rappers. Still won`t make me listen to rap, but I understand it a bit better now.

Keeping it real. Or something…