Bullet boy is a story of young men, who struggle to stay on the straight and narrow in the mean streets of hackney. Released jailbird; Ricky is fresh out of youth custody and has vowed to go straight. Awaiting his arrival is his best mate Wisdom, who comes to collect him by car. However on returning home, Wisdom accidentally knocks off a wing mirror on a car; belonging to local rival and rude boy, Godfrey. Wisdom refuses to pay the angered Godfrey ‘ �60’, which he demands, a brawl sets off and Godfrey returns with his dog.
This event sparks a feud where Ricky becomes involved, plunging him straight back into the world he’s trying to escape from. What begins as a minor street clash escalates into a series of attacks with devastating consequences. We see how a family is torn apart when guns enter their otherwise unexceptional lives. Saul Dibbs shows us as with the protagonist characters; Ricky and Wisdom, ‘ that guns don’t help at all’.
During the course of the film one gun passes between the hands of four young men leaving a trail of destruction behind. As soon as any one of the characters wrapped their fingers around the gun we sense trouble as they were under threat. Dibbs warns us of the consequences of being in possession, of a gun, in the worse cases getting killed yourself. We also learn that although guns seem to make things better they in fact do the opposite. When guns get involved it only makes matters worse.
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. . Dibbs messages seem to reflect a majority of the youth in Britain today. Guns seem to be an emerging modern reality within London’s inner cities. Every year there are 10 to 14 billion guns produced each year; some of which eventually reach the streets of London. Getting a gun nowadays is easier than ever before.
When teens nowadays pick up a gun they feel a false sense of power and authority. This all adds up to the steady rise in the amount of gun crime. Dibbs messages reach out to those in contact with guns. Ricky is just out of jail and has promised ‘ I am not going back’. However he doesn’t need to look for trouble it knows where to find him. Despite numerous warnings from his mum, Shay and Leon, his loyalty with Wisdom always comes first.
He allows Wisdom to lead him into dangerous situations where he becomes involved. Although he goes to Godfrey house and tells him he ‘ wants to end the madness’, he just wont let Wisdom die alone. And so teams up with him to take out Godfrey before they get taken out themselves. To make matters even worse he kept a gun; although one never used it, it did some severe damage to his close ones.
Wisdom, you would have thought a person with a name like that must be very intelligent, you couldn’t have been more wrong. Wisdom has problems with his revengeful and aggressive nature. Without a guardian angel looking over his every move, he is extremely likely to go and start a fight with the wrong guy. After the minor car accident and the words that had been said, Wisdom can’t let it go. ‘ Godfrey’s been saying I’m a pussy I need to do something about ‘ declares Wisdom.
‘ I’ll only put the thing to his head and scare him’ and so goes the wisdom of Wisdom. When he produces a gun to scare them with, you know we’re not in for a happy ending. Curtis lookups Ricky as a role model; although Ricky persistently warns him not to join the gangster lifestyle. The main difference we can see between the two brothers is the age difference. Young Curtis is only eleven and tempted by the sight of a gun that Ricky has brought into the household. It seems to the viewer that Curtis is going to grow and be a replica of Ricky; particularly when he goes out and plays with the gun along with Rio.
Fortunately he proves he has learnt from all the disastrous events, caused by one gun; including the death of his own brother. ‘ Everything’s flopped’ says a worried Ricky, moments before his death. Curtis throwing the gun into the lake during the final scene signifies to us that the message has finally reached him. He has finally broken away from the circle. On returning home Ricky and Wisdom have to reverse for an incoming van however whilst reversing a wing mirror is unexpectedly broken off a car. The car belongs to local rude boy and bitter rival Godfrey; who happens to be there at the time.
As Godfrey approaches, Wisdom steps out of the car. Godfrey now frustrated and angry demands ‘ �60’. However Wisdom refuses to pay. A bit of a scuffle takes place between the two gangsters, that is until Ricky steps in to try and break it up. Ricky tries to calm everyone down but ends up becoming involved; a new addition to Godfrey’s hit list. Godfrey retreats and comes back along the road with his vicious dog at hand.
Ricky and Wisdom tremble from the sight of it and flee into the car and drive away.’ You’re a pussy ‘ utters Godfrey; as the pair makes their escape. This key scene is the trigger of all the madness and hatred to come. It sparks off the vicious circle of lethal attacks, with shattering consequences. I think Wisdom was purely in the wrong place at the wrong time. If he had apologised and paid Godfrey the sixty pounds he wanted, he would have calmed down.
However I still reckon Godfrey would think of him as a ‘ pussy’ as he does whatever he’s told. Ricky goes clubbing with Shay and Wisdom to celebrate his returning home from prison. Word is spreading around that Wisdom is a pussy and that he ran away. Wisdom becomes enraged and is about to blow his top until he calls Ricky for a bit of payback.
The duo, drive off until they spot Godfrey leaving a house, with his dog. The director shows us the views of Ricky and Wisdom in this scene to give off a sense of looking through their eyes. Wisdom pleads Ricky to borrow the gun. ‘ I’ll only put the thing to his head and scare him’ protests Wisdom. Leaving the car, with their hoods up you can barely see their face in the pitch dark night.
Wisdom strolls up to Godfrey with a sense of power’ let me stroke your dog?’ demands Wisdom. ‘ You can leg off from here’ replies Godfrey. Out comes his gun, ‘ bang’ and two bullets drill through the dogs, stomach. Godfrey shocked and frightened runs off. ‘ Run you pussy’ shouts Wisdom.
Ricky kicks the dog into the river. Wisdoms aggressive nature lures him in to unleashing the hate he has on Godfrey. Now that Godfrey’s dog has been killed logical thinking tells us Godfrey will strike back. We know Godfrey won’t spare them now.
If Wisdom had never shot the dog things would have turned out much different. Just apologizing and shaking hands would have meant the violence was over. Shortly after wisdom’s car is left sabotaged, Godfrey drives past his home in a car. ‘ You’re dead, fucking dead’ he calls out. However Ricky comes to the aid of Wisdom despite the stern warnings from Shay.
‘ Why has it always got to be you’ she complains with no resultNever the less he goes and tells wisdom that he will only help him this one lasts time. ‘ This is the last time after this nothing else’ he moans. Wisdom agrees and they proceed to Godfrey’s house. Diegetic sound is used in this scene as we can hear hip hop music coming from inside the household. While Ricky waits outside on guard; Wisdom enters at peril. The music seems to get louder and louder, the further he moves down the passage way.
He grasps a pillow from a sofa, where one of Godfrey’s comrades is sleeping. Wisdom prepares to attack as he creeps down the passage way. Close-ups of the gun and Wisdom are used to try and show the tension. Godfrey is sighted returning from the kitchen and Wisdom lowers the pillow and fires, but fails to shoot his target. Wisdom runs out in agony, through the back door but is spotted along with Ricky by Godfrey’s entourage.
The duo have failed o do anything except get into more trouble with Godfrey. They dart off from the scene to find shelter. Why in your opinion does the director have Wisdom and Ricky killed?* Makes viewers feel emotional* Creates a sad effects of death* Makes us believe gun crime has led to hisIn my opinion, Saul Dibbs has Wisdom and Ricky killed off to make us aware of the result of using guns. We learn how the loyalty between Ricky and Wisdom comes before their family. I think the most powerful moment for me was when young 12 year old Curtis accidentally shoots his best mate Rio.
Stupidly, the youngsters take Ricky’s gun and decide to play around with it. With the gun fully loaded they decide to go to a local farm where they find a horse. Without any sympathy or consideration towards the creature they point the gun at it and pull the trigger…Soon after, the boys move on into the woods with their new found possession.
They play the childhood ‘ hide and seek’ game with the seeker in hold of the gun; Cutis. Rio lurks on a tree waiting to be found until Curtis comes close enough and he leaps out in front of him. In shock the surprised Curtis pulls the trigger, the bullet piercing through Rio’s right shoulder. ‘ You owe me big time’ says Rio offering to show his scar, whilst in hospital.
We are left thinking these two will turn out to be clones of Ricky and Wisdom. The viewers are left glad nearing the end of the film as this saga of gun welfare is over. We were worried that Ricky’s bad boy allure might be too attractive for Curtis to resist, despite the stern warnings from his mother and support from her friends in the community. Luckily he proves he has realised after the death of his brother and damage to Rio, that he doesn’t want his life to be this way. When he produces a gun to scare them with, you know we’re not in for a happy ending.
If only Curtis’ mum had known it wasn’t the drugs she had to worry about. With a gun nestling in his mattress, it’s only a matter of time before Curtis wants to emulate his brother and show off to his friends
