''Pressure'' is a 1976 British

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

directed by

Horace Ové Sir Horace Shango Ové (born 1936) is a Trinidad and Tobago-born British filmmaker, photographer, painter and writer. One of the leading black independent filmmakers to emerge in Britain in the post-war period, Ové holds the ''Guinness World R ...

and starring

Herbert Norville Herbert Norville (born 1957 in London) is an actor known for his appearances in many British films in the 70s and 80s such as '' Scum'' (1979), '' Pressure'' (1976), '' Meantime'' (1983), ''Full Metal Jacket'' (1987) and ''Bugsy Malone'' (1976). ...

Oscar James Oscar James (born 25 July 1942) is a Trinidadian actor, who is based in the United Kingdom. He has had a long and varied career, but is best known for appearing on British television, in particular the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', where he pla ...

and

Frank Singuineau Francis Ethelbert Dominic Singuineau (4 August 191311 September 1992) was a Trinidadian actor of stage and screen who worked in the United Kingdom, where he moved from Trinidad and Tobago in the 1940s.Stephen Bourne"Obituary: Frank Singuineau" ...

. It is hailed as the UK's first Black dramatic feature-length film, and has been characterised as "a gritty and dynamic study of a generation in crisis". Ové has said: "What Pressure tried to do was to portray the experience of the

Windrush generation British African-Caribbean people are an ethnic group in the United Kingdom. They are British citizens whose ancestry originates from the Caribbean or they are nationals of the Caribbean who reside in the UK. There are some self-identified Afro-C ...

, the kids who came with them and the kids born here."

Plot

Tony is a second-generation

Black British Black British people are a multi-ethnic group of British citizens of either African or Afro-Caribbean descent.Gadsby, Meredith (2006), ''Sucking Salt: Caribbean Women Writers, Migration, and Survival'', University of Missouri Press, pp. 76� ...

teenager, born and raised in Britain. The rest of his family—his mother, father, and older brother—were born in

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

in the Caribbean. This affects the family members' viewpoints about the society they live in. Tony's mother says that they, as Black people, must work hard, mind their own business and respect white people's laws because the Whites have the power. The film shows how the older generations are satisfied with living in a society ruled by the white English, which differs from the views of the younger generation. There is a disconnection between the way Tony feels about Britain and the way that his family feels, specifically his brother. Tony's brother is active in the Black Power movement and is constantly discussing how Black people are treated as second-class citizens and have to deal with systematic racism. He stresses the idea of a collective effort on behalf of Black people, as they encompass their culture and consciousness and they must spread this consciousness. Tony's brother emphasises how Black people must organise politically to deal with the situation themselves, since the government is not on their side. Tony tries to assimilate into the white-dominated society that surrounds him as well as fit in with his own family and their traditions. However, even as Tony tries to assimilate and maintain his faith in a British society where he can progress, he is continuously faced with obstacles. Tony goes dancing with a white friend and then goes back with her to her apartment. A white adult screams that if he does not leave she will call the police, and that the white girl should feel ashamed for bringing back a Black boy. When Tony attends one of his brother's meetings, he witnesses the mistreatment of Black people firsthand. Police forcefully enter the meeting with no warrant or reason and beat up and arrest the Black activists. Then, police tear apart Tony's family's home, in search of non-existent drugs. In addition to this, throughout the film, Tony cannot find a job that matches his educational qualifications. Events such as this bring to light the forces of oppression and lead to Tony's disillusionment with a just English society. Tony also struggles with his identity as a Black child born in England to West-Indian parents. He has difficulty relating to his brother who was not born in Europe, while he also cannot relate to his white friends, who do not share his obstacles in England. Tony's brother feels that all Whites are evil. Tony comes to his own conclusions based on his experiences, declaring that since only a handful of white people hold all the power, many white people are in the same position as Black people, but just do not realise it.

Cast

as Anthony "Tony" Watson *

as Colin *

as Lucas * Lucita Lijertwood as Bopsie * Sheila Scott-Wilkinson as Sister Louise * Ed Devereaux as Police Inspector * T-Bone Wilson as Junior * Ramjohn Holder as Brother John *

Norman Beaton Norman Lugard Beaton (31 October 1934 – 13 December 1994) was a Guyanese actor long resident in the United Kingdom. He became best known for his role as Desmond Ambrose in the Channel Four television comedy series ''Desmond's''. The writer S ...

as Preacher

Release

The film was shelved for almost three years by its funders, the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

(BFI), ostensibly because it contained scenes showing police brutality.

Reception

After its release in 1975, ''Pressure'' was well received critically. According to Julia Toppin, Ové said in a December 1987 interview for ''

Monthly Film Bulletin ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991, when it merged with '' Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with ...

'': "When things happen here, like

Broadwater Farm Broadwater Farm, often referred to simply as "The Farm", is an area in Tottenham, North London, straddling the River Moselle. The eastern half of the area is dominated by the Broadwater Farm Estate ("BWFE"), an experiment in high-density social ...

or the

Brixton Brixton is a district in south London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th cent ...

riots, I get very annoyed with the media coverage. It is so superficial. They don't do proper research. That is why I made Pressure (1978). I was tired of reading in the papers about young Blacks hanging around on street corners, mugging old ladies. Nobody tried to find out why they were doing it." With ''Pressure'', Ové became the first Black British filmmaker to direct a feature film. In 2017, ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

'' ranked ''Pressure'' as the 42nd greatest British film of all time. It also topped ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

''s list of 10 pioneering films reflecting black life in Britain over the last 40 years.

References

External links

* * * Inge Blackman
"Black Pioneers - The early history of Black filmmaking in the UK"
BFI Screenonline. * Sara Bivigou

Entertainment Blog, ''Huffington Post'', 28 July 2011. * Hope Cunningham
"The Politics of Food in Horace Ové's Pressure"
''Shades of Noir''.
"Pressure, Conflict and Creativity"
''Raising the Bar: 100 Years of Black British Theatre and Screen'',

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC's ...