2015: in a run-down corner of London, a gang of teenagers warily patrols its territory. This might not sound unusual, but these kids are not interested in drugs or knives - they trade in food. It's the hottest commodity in a broken-down state. This is Shank, and it has as much to say about today's world as its own. I talked to Adam Deacon, who plays one of the gang members, about why films like this matter.
"It's a fantasy," he says first, carefully. "I don't think there's too much obvious message, it's just a film you can watch to laugh and be entertained. I don't think you should analyse it too much. It's not realistic in that it's exaggerated, of course, but I still think people will relate to it. There are a lot of kids out there who might find themselves in that kind of trouble, might get into that madness on the street and might lose someone."
The film's young hero, Junior (Kedar Williams-Stirling) loses his brother, which is the spur for most of the action in the film. Deacon, now 27, started acting at a very young age himself. I ask him if this helped him relate to Shank's young cast.
"What's good about dealing with a young cast is that they really listen," he says. "Everybody wants to make a good film. I had my input and the team took notice of that because I know my street talk. There were no egos - everybody just wanted to make the best possible film."
Many readers will remember Deacon for his breakthrough role in Menhaj Huda's Kidulthood. The experience, as that film became popular, was quite surreal, he says. Having acted for years he was suddenly famous and it took him a while to work out how to handle it.
Kidulthood and Bullet Boy were really the first films to show our culture," he asserts, explaining why he feels they're so important. "They show what it's like on the streets. The dialogue and the way they portray people is accurate. I think the reason this hasn't happened more is that people are scared of the genre. It hits hard. It's not like films about Eighties football hooliganism because it's about what's happening now, on the street."
Shank's low budget meant that living up to the legacy of these earlier films required many long hours of work. Deacon had an easier time on 4.3.2.1., which reunited him with Kidulthood writer Noel Clarke. A bigger budget meant that everything went more smoothly, and he enjoyed the lighter feel of the storyline. There's always some risk of getting typecast in grim urban films, he explains, and what he'd like to do is to explore other aspects of street culture in a comedy. This is the inspiration behind his new project, Anuvahood.
"There's been a conveyor belt of films about a kid with a gun and I wanted to get away from that," he says. "We haven't really had this kind of comedy over here. There have been a few in the US but it's not the same. I'm also really looking forward to directing for the first time. I've always wanted to. Now I'm ready to give it a try and see what happens."
Shank and 4.3.2.1. are available on DVD now.
