THE RISE
UK, 2012, 108 minutes, Colour.
Luke Treadaway, Timothy Spall, Matthew Lewis, Iwan Rheon, Vanessa Kirby, Neil Maskell.
Directed by Rowan Athale.
The Rise is a very clever crime film. A young drug dealer, Luke Treadaway, is entangled with a seeming friend who is a dealer and is set up to take the fall, going to prison.
When he gets out of prison, he decides to get his revenge, calling on favours from his old friends as they plan a robbery which will incriminate the dealer.
The framework of the film is having the young criminal tell his story to a sympathetic policeman, Timothy Spall, who believes him. But, the whole crime has been so well engineered, taking advantage of the skills of his friends as well as his training them so that they commit the crime with expertise and disguise but the dealer is implicated.
1. A crime thriller? The young men? The drug trafficker? The police? The inspector?
2. The London settings, flats, parks, clubs, a realistic setting, with surrealistic touches, colour and style? The musical score?
3. The title, the name of the club? Ironic?
4. The structure of the film, Harvey being interviewed by the inspector, the flashbacks, to his time in jail, getting out, the planning of the job? The current situation, his being bashed, his flashbacks about the job? The audiotapes? Edited?
5. Harvey, his explanations of himself, at home, being a solicitor, the drugs, Roper and his setting him up, arrested, going to jail? His explanation of the drug setups to the inspector, the role of the trafficking, the victim going to jail to protect the trafficker? The experience of jail, coming out, meeting his friends, wanting revenge? The plan for the robbery? The need for money? Robbing Roper? The different reactions of the young men, their friendship with him, the discussions, coming in? The young man trapped in the garage, setting it on fire and Roper trying to intimidate? Harvey visiting him in hospital, his new determination to participate?
6. The planning of the robbery, the maps on the wall, Harvey and his lecturing, practising with the arrows, the engineering, the electricity, the alarms…? Harvey explaining all this to the inspector?
7. The inspector, sympathetic, listening, interested? His being called out, his assessment of the situation, believing Harvey, letting him go? His return, tapes, the truth? Harvey’s challenge to him? Throwing the tapes away?
8. Roper’s personality, his control, using people, antagonism towards Harvey? Harvey’s interview with the manager, to be a member of the club, his being refused, but his being able to case the room at the same time?
9. The reality of the crime, Harvey being bashed, the arrow with the alarm, the safe, going through the water channel? The cash register robbed? The safe of being robbed? The perfect timing?
10. The four getting away with the money, Roper in prison, their future?
