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Stella is a young prostitute who finally decides to try
and leave the life behind. However Mr Peters, her pimp, has
her gang raped as an example to the rest of the girls. She
flees London and travels back to her home in Glasgow, but
can Eddie her boyfriend keep off the drugs? Can Stella face
the reasons why she left in the first place? Stella's journey
to freedom is fraught with betrayal, but can anyone really
find any freedom except from within themselves...?
Kelly Macdonald is superb in the role of Stella, whose character
is not unlike the wayward Diane that she played in Trainspotting
- though Stella is far more disenfranchised and brutalised
by her life on the streets, where random acts of violence
towards prostitutes goes unnoticed. She conveys beautifully
Stella's duality, the hardened outer shell which contains
and protects the last of her own innate innocence, an innocence
stolen by her father's sexual abuse. Her final solution to
her entrapment is sad but understandable.
James
Bolam plays the very creepy pimp, come sugar daddy, Mr Peters,
who farms out Stella to her clients. Bolam, of course, has
an acting resume as long as your arm, being just as comfortable
in comedy rolls as drama, though I don't think that I have
seen him play such a psychopath before. He conveys the outward
respectability of an upper middle class business man who is
rotten to the core. Rotten, as he makes his living from the
sexual degradation of young girls.
The
rest of the players do just as convincing a job at portraying
their individual characters. It's worth looking out for Andy
Serkis (Gollum himself). He plays Fitz, a violent low life
- though most of his shots are quite dark making it hard to
make him out.
The
film is shot in a way that brings beauty to some of the most
ordinary sequences. I especially liked the swimming pool scene,
which whilst short conveys the beauty that Stella hides from
the world.
If
you're looking for a salacious slice of life you're looking
in the wrong place. The film is harrowing in its grittiness.
It does not go for the easy or cheap shot of showing what
it is that Stella does to survive. The sex is always implied,
which makes the scenes all the more powerful, as the watcher
has to rely on their imagination - thereby making them an
active participant, rather than a voyeur, in Stella's degradation.
This can make for some very uncomfortable viewing. The film
is as much about duality, each character having a public persona
which acts like a veneer to hide the real inner personality.
The
print isn't perfect, with obvious artefacts and quite a damaged
first couple of minutes. Sound is stereo but clear. Extras
are restricted to a photo gallery and the more interesting
and informative biographies section.
Stella is not an easy watch, but if you like walking
on a darkly wild side then this could be for you.
Charles
Packer
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