Small Time Obsession

Small Time Obsession (DVD) (*)

Out of Stock

Screened, competed or awarded at:
Other Film Festival Awards

Language Selections:
English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )

Product Origin/Format:
United Kingdom ( PAL/Region 2 )

Running Time:
103 min

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen (1.85:1)

Special Features:
Behind the scenes
Biographies
Documentary
Interactive Menu
Production Notes
Scene Access
Trailer(s)

Movie filmed in 2000 and produced in:
United Kingdom ( Great Britain, Ireland )

Directed By:
Piotr Szkopiak

Written By:
Piotr Szkopiak

Actors:
Alex King ..... Michael
Juliette Caton ..... Ali
Jason Merrells ..... Chris
Oliver Young ..... Steve
Richard Banks ..... John
Kirsten Parker ..... Jackie
Geoff Lawson ..... Geordie
Giles Ward ..... Pope
Jurek Jarosz ..... Mr Korczynski
Teresa Nowakowska ..... Mrs Korczynski
Andrew Tiernan ..... Mr Page
Leonard Trusty ..... Garvey
Danny Bowers ..... Mark
Elly Fairman ..... Lucy
Esme Eliot ..... Lisa

Synopsis:

Erroneously labelled a "gangster film", the independently made British film Small Time Obsession is in fact a thought-provoking essay on generation gaps and loyalties. London's Polish District is the setting, where four long-term friends are used to filling time and their pockets with petty crime. Michael (Alex King) has come to realise he has increasingly less in common with the others, and also with his parents who own a delicatessen. Life's big decisions elude Michael. His exclusively Polish-speaking father wants him to take over the family business, his greyhound Bullitt is starting to win prizes at the track and he's also secretly in love with Ali (Juliette Caton). Unfortunately she's already spoken for by tough guy Chris (Jason Merrells). This love triangle hardly has time to sort itself out since Chris is inadvertently embroiling them all in more Big Time crime. Although the circumstances inevitably lead to bouts of violence , what's refreshing here is that character relationships genuinely resonate with believability. First time writer/director Piotr Szkopiak tells the story with several shades of sympathetic subtlety, sensitively portraying the problems of a generation torn between inheriting their parents' displaced traditions and "fitting in".

The feature debut of writer-director Piotr Szkopiak, Small Time Obsession is set in London's Polish community, where a group of friends engage, alternately, in relationships and petty crime. Michael (Alex King) works in his father's deli but would rather be at the greyhound track; Chris (Jason Merrells) is a mercurial small-time crook; Steve (Oliver Young) is a compassionate orphan with a passion for classic cars; and John (Richard Banks) is a would-be composer with a troubled domestic life. Prodded by Chris, the friends engage in minor robberies. When Chris is offered a job taking possession of stolen goods by a mid-level thief who is trying to find favor with a local gangster, tensions among Chris' circle reach a boiling point. To top it all off, Chris' on-the-rocks relationship with pregnant girlfriend Ali (Juliette Caton) is put under further strain when Michael confesses his love to Ali; Ali's best mate Jackie (Kirsten Parker), in turn, secretly adores Michael, leading to even more complications.

Drama. A study of youngsters in a Polish community in London. The group includes Michael, who is more interested in training greyhounds for racing than working in his father's delicatessen; Chris, a petty crook with ideas of the big-time; Steve, whose interest lies in classic cars; and John, an aspiring composer with a troubled home life. Chris finds himself under pressure when his girlfriend, Ali, tells him she is pregnant. When he is offered the job of taking possession of stolen goods by a middle-aged small-time gangster, and things do not go according to plan, tensions between the friends come to the boil, exacerbated by Michael's confession to Ali that he is in love with her.

This product was added to our catalog on Saturday 04 April, 2009.