Zoom-in Online

This blog has been contributed by Kieran Masterton, who means soccer when he says football.

Crack!  The Football Factory (2004) hits you between the eyes like a Chelsea Brick wielded by a fat, tattooed, beered-up football hooligan on a Saturday afternoon.  For a generation of working class footie fans, The Football Factory defined their lives and became part of the British football violence mythos.  With outstanding performances from Danny Dyer, Frank Harper, Tamer Hassan, Roland Manookian and Neil Maskell the film brings to life the every-day organised violence that accompanies the tribalism of being a football supporter.

In last week's "Across the Pond," I began a new mini-series exploring the relationship between contemporary British filmmaking and our tradition of 'kitchen sink realism'.  For a greater understanding of what I'm yapping about this week, check out last week’s discussion of London to Brighton.  The Football Factory, with more attitude and self-assured arrogance than a pit-bull, follows four generations of footie-mad working class men from London.  The film focuses on two rival "firms": the Headhunters (Chelsea fans) and the Bushwackers (Millwall fans). 

First up, a little history.  Chelsea, now Premier League giants, are based in Southwest London and have an ancient rivalry with lower-league Millwall F.C.  Both teams' fans are infamous for their violent exploits and a colossal police presence is always required in a vain attempt to keep the peace whenever the two teams meet.  The Football Factory focuses on four generations of male 'couples' from the Chelsea firm: the twenty-somethings, Zeberdee (Roland Manookian) and Raff (Calum McNab), the thirty-somethings, Tommy Johnson (Danny Dyer) and Rod (Neil Maskell) the forty-somethings Billy Bright (Frank Harper) and Harris (Tony Denham); and the seventy-somethings Albert Moss (John Junkin) and Bill Farrell (Dudley Sutton). Amongst all these reprobates it's Tommy Johnson who rises to the top as our protagonist.  The film opens with Johnson lying on the floor of an underpass with a bloody face and his head being kicked in.  His voiceover sets the tone: "Getting beaten up by football hooligans is like having V.D - the fucking pain goes on forever.  But that's what makes it so exciting."  From this point a multi-stranded narrative plays out, mostly, but not entirely following Tommy and his best mate Rod in the Chelsea firm as they clash with a series of other football fans in Tottenham, then Stoke, then Liverpool until it all culminates in an all mighty pitched battle between Chelsea and Millwall.

Whilst this story plods on, several other subplots play out.  Zeberdee and Raff are "thieving little c*nts" who get caught stealing from firm hard-man Billy Bright. Tommy and Rod 'accidently' sleep with the sisters of one of the heads of the Millwall firm and Tommy wakes up with a knife to his throat.  That problem quickly solved by Rod and a cricket bat, Tommy and Rod then go on the run from the Millwall hard men.  Simultaneously, old-timers Albert and Bill (Tommy's granddad) are planning to escape the madness and live out the rest of their days in sunny Australia.

The Football Factory is as deep as it is shallow, and by this I mean that it appeals to the demographic depicted in the film as much as it appeals to the fascinated middle-classes and film scholars.  There are several key themes that dominate the film and it is here that kitchen sink realism’s influence can truly be found.  Kitchen sink realism was obsessed with male relationships and strong male perspectives and The Football Factory's story is really told through the eyes of eight men.  There are very real depictions of how traditions of violence and disrespect are passed down from one male generation to the next.  The absence of women in the film - in part a result of the subject matter - doesn't mean that their viewpoints go unheard.  In one scene a young mother passing by with her baby shouts, "you ain’t no football supporters, you're fuckin' muggy little c*nts."  This, one of the only female voices in the film, contrasted with the insight we're given into the lives of the men we've been following, just goes to show that they're misunderstood in the eyes of an uninformed, outside perspective.

Likewise, there is a generational clash between the values of the old world and their incompatibility with values of the new world.  In several scenes in the film, Bill and Tommy discuss the hooligan war and Bill's disgust that Tommy's idea of fun is kicking the shit out of someone on a Saturday afternoon.  In a classic throwback to the cultural collisions in KSR films of the 50's and 60's, this film continually returns to the proposition that the generation that experienced World War II are respectful and thoughtful while the generations who haven't experienced war are frustrated young (or not so young) men who are obsessed with 'unhealthy' pursuits.

 The Football Factory is really about a young man, Tommy struggling with his subconscious, feelings of self-loathing and a lack of understanding of his world.  This struggle is depicted through dreams and premonitions of the beating he receives just before the end of the film.  The downward spiral of hideous dreamscapes culminates in the death of one of his friends, which ultimately becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.  Writer/Director Nick Love has carefully sculpted a film filled with ignorance, hate and illogical violence that at the same time is thoughtful, has heart, and speaks for his generation of lost men.  Without doubt, The Football Factory is one of the best British films made in the last ten years even though (or perhaps because) it shocks, surprises and touches you in equal measure.  This is a film about insecurities and ignorance, a film about hatred and friendship, a film about a subconscious divided and the not-so-beautiful side of the "beautiful game."

Before I leave you for another week, I think given that Trainspotting was broadcast in America with subtitles, this might be a good juncture at which to point out that West London hard men aren't the easiest to understand, especially when there's slang flying around left, right and centre.  So, with that in mind, here's a quick London to American translation for you.

A brief guide to understanding football hooligans:

- "Don't fuck about, ping him in the trap and get out" = "Stop wasting time and punch that young gentleman in the mouth and leave."
- "Jog on son!" = "I think it's about time you left sir"
- "Jesus! I was expecting a bowl of cornflakes and a quick wank..." = "Lord, I was hoping for some breakfast and some quick masturbation"
- "I'm gonna smash the fuckin' granny out of that." = "I would very much like to have sexual relations with that young woman"
- "You're a prize mug mate" = "You're extremely gullible sir"

Football Factory is available on region 2 DVD from Amazon and Play.com, watch it if you’re up for a rollercoaster of violence, vulgar language and an extremely accurate depiction of British football violence.

Kieran Masterton is a postgraduate research student who has taught Film and Media at the University of Gloucestershire, UK.  His research interests include screenwriting, neo-noir, genre theory and the slasher genre.

Follow Zoom In Online's Film & TV content on Twitter and Facebook.