Alex Wheatle - 2020
There is a trend inside Steve McQueen's Small Axe series which is almost indiscernible at first but comes more to the fore as the episodes proceed. It is, in brief, a movement from fully developed and realized films to episodic snapshots which leave the viewer wanting more. The first episode, Mangrove, is a masterclass in acting, direction, and fulfillment-by-subversion in terms of the conventions of a courtroom drama. The second, Lovers Rock, while shorter is still of a piece. A self-contained unit that feels complete and whole, one that wraps up its plot strands tidily.
The third episode is really where things began to shift for me. Simply put, it felt like it stopped too soon - a train heading towards full speed which slammed on its breaks. Its movement was like CLIMAX!...credits. You can read my review (if you desire) on that third episode for a little more on this. For the purposes of this write-up, let's just say that the trend continues with Alex Wheatle and the concluding Education episodes. In my mind, this episode is the weakest of the whole lot, but that is not to say it is poorly executed or uninteresting. In fact, it's actually pretty impressive. McQueen manages to give us a pretty complete biopic in miniature. A portrait of a pretty interesting British author with a rather exceptional upbringing.
The film hits all the beats of this kind of drama. We witness his abuse at the hands of the cruel mistress heading the orphanage where he is reared. There are the coming of age beats which are some of the best characterization pieces. Jonathan Jules is really effective as his friend Dennis. Dennis shows Alex how to walk and talk, to fear the police, and how to perceive Britain as "Babylon." Later, there is the dyspeptic Rasta (played by Robbie Gee) in prison who gives Wheatle his education in the history of his people. Then, of course, in keeping with the rest of the series, there is Alex' fantastic connections to reggae and his own burgeoning DJ gigs.
Yet this is all really leading up to the Brixton uprising in 1981, and so that is where I will end. While being inferior to the others, McQueen's portrayal of the uprising, an angry, grief-stricken protest after the lives of 14 black youth are lost in a house fire, is one of the 10 best scenes I've seen this year in any picture. It is an arresting slam-poetry interlude which plays over a carousel of real-life, still images taken during the event. Once again, McQueen is able to spotlight a small specific tale cast against this cavernous backdrop of social bigotry and systemic neglect. Those five minutes are worth the watch alone. The rest of Alex Wheatle left us wanting, but maybe that was precisely the point.
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