SMALL AXE: MANGROVE Review

The sad thing about progress is that, especially in regards to world changing progress, it’s doesn’t come without pain. For every movement forward, something is lost, whether big or small. For “The Mangrove Nine”, nine black men and women hastily arrested and accused of inciting a riot in the 1970’s, their battle with the British government set the stage for a country to finally reckon with its racist dealings but its history defining results didn’t did not come free of charge. As director Steve McQueen achingly demonstrates in another stellar SMALL AXE installment, MANGROVE, the fight for racial equality tears its warriors at the seams for only the faintest notions of progress.

Moving from the pleasant LOVERS ROCK to the much more intense MANGROVE, SMALL AXE as a series begins to showcase its power and intent in bringing the plight of London’s West Indian community into clearer focus. Where love and optimism flow freely in the halls of LOVERS ROCK, persecution and pessimism seep through MANGROVE as McQueen (along with co-writer Alastair Siddons) depicts a community coming together in the face of racial injustice. Deriving its name from the local restaurant/impromptu community center that owner Frank Crichlow (the excellent Shaun Parkes) looks to as another opportunity to go “legit” after owning a club/dice den, MANGROVE brings just as much focus to the community as it does to the man caught at the center of a historical moment. If Frank had any choice, he’d rather just go along his with day trying to run his restaurant, head down and compliant to the many incredulous “investigations” that local police officer Pulley (Sam Spruell) throws his way. Even as a variety of activists, ranging from the leader of the British Black Panther Movement Alethia Jones-LeCointe (Letitia Wright) to local writer and activist Darcus Howe (Malachi Kirby), plead with him to take some legal action and step into the fray as the community’s figurehead, Frank tentatively dismisses them. As he’s learned, if you keep to yourself and do what your told, even the most aggressive of racist purveyors can only do so much.

But then the raids start. Out of nowhere and based on the flimsiest of defenses, PC Pulley and his lackeys soon go out of their way to make Frank’s life hell as they administer never-ending searches that trash his restaurant and rattle his mental health. Soon, enough becomes enough and Frank finally decides to stand up for his restaurant and community by holding a peaceful protest disowning the tactics of the local police department. However, as it goes with most protests aimed at bringing to light racial injustice, a flurry of police aggression and heightened protestor emotions collide violently leading to what many governmental types would label as a “riot” and soon the likes of Frank, Alethia, Darcus and six others are arrested and put on trial. With the cards assuredly stacked against them, MANGROVE efficiently turns into a dramatic recreation of a country on trial.

McQueen lets this story unfold naturally and as a result, MANGROVE at times moves like a slow burn of a film as Frank (and the audience) constantly come face to face with persecution at the hands of the law. As the microaggressions and just plain aggressions pile on, things explode at the infamous “riot” and simmer once more in the courts that house our accused subjects. From seemingly every direction, “The Mangrove Nine” contend with the fact that they are in a room where everyone, outside of their plucky defendant (Jack Lowden), is looking to find them guilty. While the film could easily ride on the coattails of the drama of the court alone, McQueen and Siddons never forget that behind this historical moment in racial reckoning, real humans were faced with truly dour outcomes. At the center, Mr. Parkes puts in a wrenching performance as a man that is tired of living a life dictated by the threat of persecution. In Mr. Crichlow, Parkes wears a weary face throughout and while he surely hopes and prays for a better world for he and his community, he would rather it not be him at the center of it all. As MANGROVE gruelingly demonstrates, being the symbol of justice is just as important as it is draining and Parkes impeccably plays that line all the way until the moment Crichlow does become the voice of his haunted people; a voice tired, full of rage, and desperate for justice.

This being a McQueen film, it’s no surprise that literally every other performance here is just as rock solid as Parkes’ and it comes down to how McQueen and Siddons make their subjects feel real. Despite what the audience knows (or doesn’t) regarding these subjects’ impacts on the British courts regarding racism, MANGROVE isn’t just content to ride on their legacy but rather imbue these real life figures with humane flaws. While Frank, Alethia, and the other Mangrove nine are inspirational figures, they are still human and those moments when doubt and anger threaten to not only derail their defenses but also their own internal well-being, the connection and desire to see them “win” makes things feel more natural rather than cloying. Even though I usually hate to compare movies to one another in a review, I can’t help but draw the vaguest comparisons between this and Aaron Sorkin’s THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7. While both movies are really only similar in the fact that they both involve parties fighting for their rights on the court stage, I feel that bringing up the comparison here between the two illustrates the different approaches to dramatizing a real life court case. Where THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 is assuredly an entertaining film filled with a handful of great performances, MANGROVE elevates past the trappings of the admittedly generic-ness of CHICAGO 7’s theatricality by making its events and characters feel like genuine people rather than crackling entertainers.

It’s in that genuineness where MANGROVE finds success. Shot on film by Shabier Kirchner, McQueen adds an air of authenticity by giving his film a dated but classical look that nevertheless manages to put viewers in the lively streets or stifling court halls of their world. In classic McQueen fashion, this film manages to be stylish yet restrained allowing its true story to naturally reel out the emotions. In its disquieting ending, where victory is more of a whisper rather than a triumphant roar, MANGROVE somberly notes that London’s West Indian community is in for the long haul when it comes to finally finding peace and equality in their new home.

4.5/5