Awaydays

United Kingdom 2009, 105 mins
Director: Pat Holden
Starring: Stephen Graham

Synopsis

On the Wirral in the early years of Thatcher’s premiership, the opportunities for thrill-seeking young men looking to escape 9 to 5 drudgery are what they’ve always been: sex, drugs, rock ‘n’ roll, fashion, football and fighting. Paul Carty (Bell) goes to the game, chases skirt, pores over records and gets to see Echo and the Bunnymen, but his fraught family life and dull job leave him feeling bereft. Becoming mates with the Berlin Bowie romantic Elvis (Boyle), Carty is drawn to The Pack, a faction of football hooligans. AWAYDAYS is an outstanding rites of passage movie with intelligence and depth that is superior to any recent film dealing with hooliganism. The violence is brutal and horribly realistic; period details are impeccably recreated; and the strident, post-punk soundtrack that propels the action is superb.

Michael Hayden, The Times BFI London Film Festival.