The Lives of the Saints 2006

This was the official website of the 2006 move, a dark and bizarre morality tale whereby fantastical events take place in the ordinary surroundings of modern-day London.
Content is from the site's 2006 archived pages as well as other outside sources.

 

The story unfolds in the cafes, clubs and shops of Green Lanes where Mr Karva is the boss; a ridiculous yet dangerous man who is known and feared by all. Othello, his stepson, is the young pretender, palling around with his girlfriend Tina and his weak-willed lackey Emilio. Life revolves around socialising, gambling and trying to scrape together a modest living.

But that lifestyle is about to be thrown into disarray by an otherworldly, sickly-looking ten-year-old child. Mr Karvas errand boy, Roadrunner, stumbles across this child in the park and offloads his bizarre find in Othellos basement.

Thus begins an exhilaratingly strange series of events. It seems that the child is able to grant others their innermost desires. Mute, intense, all he has to do is look into your eyes and everything you ever wanted will come true Soon Othellos dreams of limitless wealth become a reality. And true to form, his tyrannical stepfather wants to muscle in on the action.

Mr Karva watches with mounting frustration as all around him get their own taste of heaven. It is paradise on the streets of north London, but family ties and relationships are becoming increasingly strained and as Mr Karva himself says, Every paradise has got its serpent. He persuades the unstable Emilio to take the matter into his own hands and a battle for possession of the child ensues.

What unfolds is a disastrous descent into loss and despair as the tale plummets towards its tragic conclusion.

The Lives of the Saints is a truly original modern-day fable, which warns that what we wish for is not always what we need

 

 



The Lives of the Saints, directed by Chris and Rankin

REVIEWS

The Lives of the Saints
* Peter Bradshaw The Guardian
25 January 2007
Tony Grisoni is a hugely talented writer, but this is one script he should have kept in the bottom drawer: a lame and studenty London gangland drama. The co-director is Rankin, better known as photographer and publisher of Dazed and Confused; the movie is co-produced by Dazed Film & TV and an Italian fashion company called Meltin' Pot. It looks worryingly like a vanity project, but there's nothing here to be vain about.

James Cosmo goes into ethnic mode playing a local crook called Mr Karva, whose errand boy Roadrunner (Daon Broni) discovers a strange angelic child with prophetic powers, like DH Lawrence's Rocking-Horse Winner. The direction from Rankin and Chris Cottam is very uncertain; there is lots and lots of shouty acting and a cringeworthy denouement worthy of Viz comic's legendary cockney villain Big Vern.

+++

The Lives Of The Saints
***1/2 Reviewed by: Darren Amner
Reviewed on: 24 Oct 2006
The Lives of the Saints is a breath of fresh air for the British film industry, which has had its creativity damaged by its own success. It's nice to see an original piece of storytelling emerge from the crop of countless costume dramas and gangster movies it produces year in year out. The Lives of the Saints is a magical fable set within the criminal underworld of Tottenham.

Mr Karva is man who runs the show on the mean streets of North London and forces himself on the community. What he says goes and he has quite a formidable prescence. He is aided by his hired help thugs and a nimble footed courier called Roadrunner who carries out his business errands for him on foot all over town. Karva is also assisted by his step-son Othello, who has his own ambitions of one day being bigger and more successful than his overbearing brute of a step-dad. Othello doesnt always agree with the way in which Karva conducts business and dreams of doing things the right way. He is assisted by his small-minded mate Emilio who is quite the opposite when it comes to aspirations and is quite happy and content just going along for the ride.
The Lives of the Saints is a breath of fresh air for the British film industry, which has had its creativity damaged by its own success. It's nice to see an original piece of storytelling emerge from the crop of countless costume dramas and gangster movies it produces year in year out. The Lives of the Saints is a magical fable set within the criminal underworld of Tottenham.

Mr Karva is not someone you want to meet, even when he's in a good mood. He's demanding and is accustomed to always getting his way - something that bumps up against the other characters in a big way. His family member, step son is learning only too well from his step dad and a clash between the two always seems imminent since Othello want to follow his own ethical standard. Not sure what to make of the apparent Batman fetish that Emilio seems to harbor - there are an awful lot of scenes where a Batman hoodie is visible either center stage or in the perifery. There's even a subtle mention of his favorite Batman hoodie styles. And even when his face is hidden from view, the ever present, easily identifiable Batman hoodie always gives him away in a way that seems forced. And I say this being a Batman fan!
I hope this movie gets the attention it deserves. A major reason to go to the movies is to broaden our horizons and The Lives of the Saints is a much needed kiss of life for the British Film Industry. It has a great moral which is be careful what you wish for. I wish the movie great success and fingers crossed it will come true.

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