Red, White and Blue will be hard hitting

There have been plenty of reasons to watch the BBC’s drama anthology Small Axe. For a start, each stand alone film is directed by the Oscar-winning filmmaker Steve McQueen, the man behind the acclaimed movies Hunger, Shame, 12 Years a Slave and Widows.

Then there are the impressive casts. The third entry, Red, White and Blue, has a starring role for John Boyega, who first made an impression in the British sci-fi comedy Attack the Block, before finding international fames as Finn in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, a role he would reprise in the two sequels.

There’s also the fact that the films, which all focus on the West Indian experience in London, feel very timely in the wake of the Black Live Matters movement.

However, McQueen has been working on the concept for over a decade. He says: “The seed of Small Axe was sown 11 years ago, soon after my first film, Hunger. Initially, I had conceived of it as a TV series, but as it developed, I realised these stories had to stand alone as original films yet at the same time be part of a collective. After all, Small Axe refers to a West Indian proverb that means together we are strong.”

McQueen adds: “The anthology, anchored in the West Indian experience in London, is a celebration of all that that community has succeeded in achieving against the odds. To me, it is a love letter to Black resilience, triumph, hope, music, joy and love as well as to friendship and family. Oh, and let’s not forget about food too!”

But the director is not shying away from their topicality. “All five films take place between the late 60s and mid 80s. They are just as much a comment on the present moment as they were then. Although they are about the past, they are very much concerned with the present. A commentary on where we were, where we are and where we want to go.”

He adds: “When the Cannes Film Festival selected Mangrove and Lovers Rock earlier this year, I dedicated both to George Floyd and all the other Black people that have been murdered, seen or unseen, because of who they are in the US, UK and elsewhere. As the proverb goes, ‘If you are the big tree, we are the small axe.’”

Red, White and Blue will no doubt be particularly hard hitting. It tells the true story of Leroy Logan (Boyega), a young forensic scientist who decides to make a career change and become a police officer after seeing his father assaulted by two cops. Not only will joining the police fulfil a childhood dream and allow him to escape the solitude of the laboratory, Logan also believes it will be a chance for him to change racist attitudes from within. Yet despite his naïve optimism, Leroy finds himself facing disapproval from his dad – and discrimination in his new role as an exemplary Constable.

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