Ian Gabriel's Four Corners is an ensemble crime story set in South Africa's Cape Flats, a volatile area that is completely dominated by two gangs, the 26s and 28s. Having just been released from prison after serving 13 years behind bars, Farakahn, a general in the 28, is fed-up with the violent lifestyle, wishing nothing more than to settle down in his home and find his son, a 13-year-old boy he has never met. His son, Ricardo, is completely unaware of his father's existence, a childhood chess protege whose future is threatened by his growing interest in the 26 gang, as he is groomed to be a member by one of the local leaders. Four Corners is a powerful crime ensemble story that uses three primary characters in Farakahn, Ricardo, and Leila, a long-based doctor who returns home to Cape Flats for her father's funeral, to capture the dehumanizing quality of gang culture, where the individual is weak and basically worthless, with enemies viewed as nothing more than something standing in the way of the group's interests. Farakahn and his son Ricardo grew up on the same streets, in the same neighborhood, but while Farakahn is a member of the 28s, his son is slowly becoming indoctrinated into the 26s, the gang that now controls the neighborhood. In an area that has been in conflict for the better half of century, perhaps Four Corners greatest attributed is its ability to capture the lack of community and lack of individuality this type of environment breeds, as neighborhoods become nothing more but land for various gangs to fight over. Four Corners can be a raw and brutally violent film, but what stands out is the speed and quickness of the violence, where life can turn to death in the blink of an eye. Touching, intense, and true, Ian Gabriel's Four Corners encapsulates the essence of gang culture, exhibiting how gangs tend to prey on the directionless and weak, those who turn to this culture for a sense of purpose and strength.
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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