Trespass Against Us: A Ride-along into the World of (Dis)Organized Crime
This film focuses on the life of a late-thirty-something thief who comes from a family that has little respect for the law. He and his wife and kids are making it work in a run-down trailer park where his father lives. Set in rural UK, the film has many similarities to Guy Ritchie’s films, especially Snatch. The father is always wearing a black tracksuit and constantly rails against authority and the government and is quite a character.
The crimes that take place in the film are absurd and hilarious. They drive a tiny, run-down car on the sidewalk during a heist and there are times when the children seem to be the most intelligent of all of them. Yet, there is tension in the film. The young family would like to get away from the bad influence of those in the community, especially the children’s grandfather and uncle, a giggly arsonist.
The film is strangely engrossing. The mood and speed often shift suddenly; yet, the film maintains fluidity and holds the viewer’s attention. It was exciting, interesting, and an unusual immersion into a rare but believable lifestyle.
The message of this gangster film about poor people is that being a part of a family can be complicated. Although they may get you into trouble and be a real pain, they are sometimes all you have. When you are struggling with where you are in your life, they are there whether you like it or not.
I like how it was a little crazy because that’s how life is. I think it’s realistic that the family business of organized crime run by a family with little education and a strange way of looking at the world would be disorganized. Maybe disorganized crime is a better descriptor in this case.
In the end I felt satisfied. In the film, the main character is convinced, for the first time, that the earth is not flat. That means that the world does not have an end, and no matter how far you travel from where you are the horizon is always just as far away.
