John Singleton's debut feature film provides an intimate telling of the myriad challenges associated with growing up in a neighborhood filled with violence. Just like in the battlefields of war, there are no winners in this story, only survivors. Violence in this world is brutal and random. Society (schooling, police, media, etc.) has all but given up on them, leading the characters to rely on their family, friends, and themselves.
Singleton's direction invites us in to experience this world with camerawork that makes us feel as though we are right there with the characters on the front porch or at a backyard picnic. However, the helicopters and gunshots in the background of nearly every scene constantly remind us of the dangers present, even while the characters barely acknowledge this as noise present in everyday life. Despite these seemingly insurmountable obstacles, the characters remain focused on the flashes of optimism in life. Tre's father, Furious (Laurence Fishburne), runs a mortgage loan business, fights gentrification, and works to raise his soon as an honorable man. Tre and Ricky look for ways to get out of this neighborhood, whether that is going to university or joining the army. And even though the experience of being in juvenile detention has clearly led Doughboy to accept that his is a life of crime, he cares for and protects his friends and family, wanting the best for them.
While Singleton has clear homages to his influences (Stand by Me, Do the Right Thing), his personable writing and directing make this film truly his own.
Singleton's direction invites us in to experience this world with camerawork that makes us feel as though we are right there with the characters on the front porch or at a backyard picnic. However, the helicopters and gunshots in the background of nearly every scene constantly remind us of the dangers present, even while the characters barely acknowledge this as noise present in everyday life. Despite these seemingly insurmountable obstacles, the characters remain focused on the flashes of optimism in life. Tre's father, Furious (Laurence Fishburne), runs a mortgage loan business, fights gentrification, and works to raise his soon as an honorable man. Tre and Ricky look for ways to get out of this neighborhood, whether that is going to university or joining the army. And even though the experience of being in juvenile detention has clearly led Doughboy to accept that his is a life of crime, he cares for and protects his friends and family, wanting the best for them.
While Singleton has clear homages to his influences (Stand by Me, Do the Right Thing), his personable writing and directing make this film truly his own.