Green Street
Green Street Hooligans | |
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Green Street movie poster |
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Directed by | Lexi Alexander |
Produced by | |
Written by | Lexi Alexander Brad Smith |
Starring | Elijah Wood Charlie Hunnam Claire Forlani |
Distributed by | |
Release date(s) | September 9, 2005 (UK) |
Running time | 108 min. |
Country | USA / UK |
Language | English |
IMDb profile |
Green Street is a 2005 drama film about football hooliganism in England. It was directed by Lexi Alexander and stars Elijah Wood and Charlie Hunnam. In the United States and Australia, the film is called Green Street Hooligans, while in the United Kingdom it has the title Green Street after initially being called Hooligans. In other countries, it is called Football Hooligans or just Hooligans. In the film, an American college student (Matt Buckner — played by Elijah Wood) falls in with a violent English football firm run by his brother-in-law (the Green Street Elite) and is morally transformed by their commitment to each other. The movie received an R rating from the MPAA for brutal violence, pervasive language and some drug use.
Contents |
Synopsis
Matt Buckner (Elijah Wood) is kicked out of Harvard after authorities discover cocaine in his room. The drugs actually belong to his roommate Jeremy Van Holden (Terence Jay) but Buckner is afraid to speak up because the Van Holdens are a powerful family. He is given $10,000 for his trouble, and uses the money to travel to Britain where his sister (Claire Forlani) lives with her husband and young son. Unbeknownst to Buckner, his sister's husband Steve (Marc Warren) is a former leader of the Green Street Elite (GSE), a fictional football hooligan firm that supports West Ham United F.C.. Buckner develops a friendship with Steve's brother Pete (Charlie Hunnam), who is the current leader, and becomes engrossed in the world of football hooliganism, going so far as to take up arms (literally) to preserve the firm's honor, and to get a West Ham United tattoo. A shocking and brutal finale caps this movie.
Themes
One of the themes developed early on in Green Street Hooligans is criticism of institutes of higher education. Buckner's wrongful expulsion from Harvard criticizes universities for giving their wealthier students treatment that gives them an advantage over the other students. However, it is equally arguable that the relationship between Buckner and Van Holden, while it does present a dichotomy between socioeconomic status, also alludes to a dichotomy between those with power and the will to use it, and those without. Buckner, who sheepishly accepts Van Holden's "offer," later tells the audience that he will "learn what no Ivy League school can teach." This same sheepishness shown toward Van Holden continues once he arrives in England. The lack of courage Buckner displays near the beginning - including his first "fight" with Pete over money and Pete's refusal to take him to the match, Bovver's refusal to accept him as a part of the group, and Buckner's hesitancy toward fighting the Zulu firm - typifies why he allowed himself to take the fall for Van Holden and what he was going to learn from his experience in the GSE. His final exam in Courage comes at the end with his final confrontation with Van Holden.
Another theme prevalent in Green Street is fate, especially concerning Bovver and Millwall. Bovver eventually gets fed up with the presence of "the Yank" and rides on his motorbike to Millwall. Bovver, in going to a borough of London in which there are nothing but fierce rivals, seems to be tempting fate. Fed by his jealousy of Matt, Bovver attempts to discredit Matt by outing him as an "undercover journo." When the other members of the GSE are still hesitant to believe that their new "Yank mate" is what Bovver says he is, Bovver goes into a fit of rage and heads, yet again, over to Millwall, with the intention of getting the Millwall firm to take care of Matt, while also giving away Steve Dunham a.k.a "The Major"'s presence at the Abbey, the pub hangout of the GSE. Inadvertently, Bovver's intentions go awry, and the Millwall firm practically ignore Matt and leave Steve mortally wounded. Millwall is also a catalyst of fate in the film, often with life changing consequences. The scrap between GSE and Millwall ten years before the events of the story sets the stage for why Steve "left 'The Major' behind" and why Tommie Hatcher has it out for Steve. Additionally, the last scrap between the two firms near the end of the film results in another needless death, and also makes Matt realize that he no longer needs the GSE, the violence, and everything else associated with football firms to know that he's "not made of glass."
Cultural context
The name of the firm in film, the Green Street Elite, refers to Green Street [1] in the London Borough of Newham. Green Street is the road where West Ham United F.C.'s home stadium, Boleyn Ground (more commonly known as Upton Park) is. West Ham is supported by one of England's more notorious hooligans: the Inter City Firm (ICF). [2] Although Green Street has received some criticism regarding the exaggerated level of violence shown between the firms in the movie, the cultural validity of the script is rooted in anthropological studies of firm behaviorism. [3] [4]
Cast
Actor | Role |
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Elijah Wood | Matt Buckner |
Charlie Hunnam | Pete Dunham |
Bovver | |
Claire Forlani | Shannon Buckner Dunham |
Marc Warren | Steve Dunham |
Ross McCall | Dave |
Rafe Spall | Swill |
Kieran Bew | Ike |
Geoff Bell | Tommy Hatcher |
Ben Dunham | |
James Allison | Ben Dunham |
Terence Jay | Jeremy Van Holden |
Scott Christie | Millwall Lad/Ricky |
Joel Beckett | Terry |
Firm Member |
Reviews of film
- Channel 4 stated "Hampered by some clumsy dialogue and schoolboy errors, Green Street could have been much better than it is. While the cast do their best to keep the production afloat, more care from writer-director Alexander would've made this truly enthralling."
- Film Focus stated "Green Street is a colossal misstep at every turn, and it's the sort of film that's bound to appeal more to one who knows not a single thing about football in the UK than one with even the slightest knowledge. It's patronising, cheap and violent in all the wrong ways."
- Rotten Tomates concludes: "When it comes to the subculture of soccer thugs, Green Street Hooligans lacks sufficient insight, and instead comes off as a Fight Club knock-off."
- Worldwide Total Gross: $3,154,346 United States Total Gross: $346,830
Trivia
- The West Ham firm in the film is called the Green Street Elite also known as Hooligans (GSE). The real-life West Ham firm is called the Inter City Firm (ICF), so called because of the firms use of the Inter City trains to travel to away matches.
- The South London Press reported that (then Millwall manager) Dennis Wise, had heavily fined and suspended two of his players for attending the film's premiere.
- Terence Jay, who played Matt Buckner's (Elijah Wood) roommate, also wrote and performed several of the film's soundtracks. He is also the producer Deborah de Prete's son.
- The first game in the film showed West Ham at home to Birmingham City. The action on the pitch, however, was filmed at a game between West Ham and Gillingham.
- Although not a remake, the premise is very similar to the 1995 British-made film ID, in which the unlikely inductee to the world of football violence is an undercover police officer. Unlike ID which used fictional names, Green Street uses real club names and locations.
- Claire Forlani, who is English, plays an American in the film.
- Macclesfield Train Station shown in the film was actually Westbury Train Station of Wiltshire.
- The song heard as they descend the steps after the Manchester brawl is "I wanna be adored" by the famous Manchester group, The Stone Roses. "Waterfall" is also heard in the film, as is "Lions", a song from Ian Brown (lead singer of The Stone Roses)'s solo album Unfinished Monkey Business.
- The film used a working title of The Yank in the United States of America until it was titled "Green Street Hooligans" there.
- The pub where many scenes are filmed is actually 'The Griffin' in Brentford, West London - on the other side of the city from Upton Park in East London. The pub is one of the four pubs that are at each corner of Brentford FC's Griffin Park stadium. The scene where Tommy Hatcher's son is killed is filmed behind the Bill Axbey (New Road) stand of the stadium.
Awards
LA Femme Film Festival
- Lexi Alexander won Best Feature (2005)
Malibu Film Festival
- Lexi Alexander won Best of the Fest (2005)
- Lexi Alexander won Special Jury Award
Soundtrack
- "Shame"
- Written and Performed by Terence Jay
- With Balazs Szalai, Daesik Kim, Ricky J. Hernandez=
- "Run from the Pigs"
- Written and Performed by Terence Jay
- With Balazs Szalai, Daesik Kim, Ricky J. Hernandez
- "Only When I Laugh"
- Written by Ken Jones
- "Hooligan Drums"
- Written and Performed by Ivan Koutikov
- "Stuntman"
- Written and performed by Kasabian
- "The Strength of One"
- Music by Machine Head
- Performed by Christopher Mann
- "A No Win Situation"
- Music by Machine Head
- Performed by Christopher Mann
- "Queen's English"
- Written by Peter Batchelder, Daniel Holter and Vinny Millevolte
- Courtesy of FirstCom Music, a unit of Zomba Enterprises, Inc.
- "Waterfall"
- Written by Ian Brown (as Ian George Brown) and John Squire
- Performed by Stone Roses
- Courtesy of Jive Records under license from BMG Film & TV Music
- "I Wanna Be Adored"
- Written by Ian Brown (as Ian George Brown) and John Squire
- Performed by Stone Roses
- Courtesy of Jive Records under license from BMG Film & TV Music
- "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles"
- Written by Jaan Kenbrovin and John Kellette
- "Def Beat"
- Written by Tom Holkenborg
- Performed by Junkie XL
- Courtesy of Roadrunner Records
- "Seasick"
- Written by Willie Scott
- Courtesy of FirstCom Music, a unit of Zomba Enterprises, Inc.
- "One Kick Beyond"
- Written and Produced by Junkie XL
- "Stand Your Ground"
- Written by Brett L. Gordon and Alexander Lusty
- Performed by Acarine
- Courtesy of CNR Records
- "Morning Song"
- Written and Produced by Junkie XL
- "One Blood"
- Written by Charlie Midnight and Ivan Koutikov
- Performed by Terence Jay
- "Test of a Man"
- Written and Performed by Dash
- "Moving On"
- Written by Reuben Alexander, David Ireland and Kai Lemke
- Performed by Must
- Courtesy of Wind-Up Records, LLC
References
- ^ http://www.green-st.co.uk/
- ^ http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/film/news/article308355.ece
- ^ http://www.newhamrecorder.co.uk/search/story.aspx?brand=RECOnline&category=NewsNewham&itemid=WeED30%20Aug%202005%2017:29:25:590&tBrand=RECOnline&tCategory=search
- ^ http://www.newhamrecorder.co.uk/search/story.aspx?brand=RECOnline&category=NewsNewham&itemid=WeED06%20Sep%202005%2016:33:14:910&tBrand=RECOnline&tCategory=search
External links
- Official website (requires Macromedia Flash)
- Green Street at the Internet Movie Database
- Soundtrack from IMDB
- Charlie Hunnam`s Website