Heygate Estate, which acted as a background to many popular films, was a large council housing complex which had its run from 1974 to 2010 in Southwark, South London. Consisting of raw concrete, repeating geometric forms, and earnest presentation of structure, it was a standard Corbusian-inspired architecture (Campkin, 2013, p. 82). Removed of its tenants after decades of neglect, it remained abandoned for four years until its demolition in 2014 (Lees and Ferreri, 2015). It is famous for its urban decline, being dubbed a ‘sink estate’, and the discourse it created about regeneration and gentrification (Lees and Ferreri, 2015). From the early 2000s onwards, it went through regeneration by the organization of Southwark Council. Although the public opinion was that the estate was hideous and dangerous; there were strong opposing tenants to this development and the negative comments (see http://www.heygatewashome.org/testimonials and Sebregondi, 2012, p. 339). Attack the Block (2011), which uses a comedic approach to the familiar social disruptions that exist in such estates, and Harry Brown (2009), which dramatises this concept to its extremes, used the estate while it was waiting to be demolished.
Attack the Block (2011) follows a gang of five, who engage in antisocial behaviour and start off by mugging Sam, a training nurse, at the fictional Clayton Estate. They then kill a creature that falls from the sky, which attracts other related creatures and brings on a quest for survival. It is a fun watch, also having its say about council estates and related sociological issues. Architecturally, the estate itself looks odd and is intended to; as Sarah Ilott recognizes: “...with all of the action revolving around a tower block that is illuminated to look like a space ship, both stylistic choices serving to create a sense of otherness” (2013, p. 11) (Fig. 1). This further emphasises the image of housing estates, as locations that are ‘other’, with tenants who are ‘others’, excluded.
Although it is commonly unsafe in the estates, some scenes in the film oppose this. When an elderly neighbour helps Sam calm down after the mugging, or when Moses (the leader) apologises to Sam for mugging her without knowing she was a resident (to which she replies if it would have been acceptable if she was not living there), and many other instances that display the familiarities between the characters help portray a sense of community within the estate itself. There is an implication of belonging and adopting the state as their own, acting hostile to anyone who is an outsider and to the authorities. However, this also displays further proof of the isolation estates seem to create for tenants. For example, after a bout of running from the aliens in the public areas of the estate, the gang return inside their tower block to hide from them. How they deem the high-rise itself safe, shows their domination over the structure.
More tenants are introduced as the film progresses; like Ron who grows weed for his boss in a relatively large back room, and a buyer, Brewis, who has the misfortune of being at the estate when aliens attack. While in the weed flat, the five young boys, oldest of them fifteen, observe the alien invasion in their neighbourhood from the windows. The view from the flat on the top level (nineteen, as the elevator suggests) lets the heroes monitor the location with ease. In another scene, “Alright, calm down, I’ve got the binoculars out. Where are you?” says Ron to Brewis who is outside (Attack the Block, 2011), clearly having an overview of the area. In the film, high-up residents have an unobstructed grasp of the surroundings with the positioning of the building and windows, providing a chance to see Jacobs’ theory of self-surveillance in action. In contrast; the initial killing of the alien, and the first interactions with the more hostile male counterparts, suggest that the deed always happens at the playground, again marking the communal area as unsafe and unmonitored.
As one of the meteorites fall close by, the main gang go into their respective flats to gear up. Various configurations of the same flat plan can be observed. The choice of lighting in these scenes convey a dreariness, accentuating the poor quality and the level of deterioration of the materials and furniture used in the interiors. At times well-lit (with cold fluorescent light), other times in complete darkness, the halls represent transition areas and danger simultaneously. The public walkways in the estate act as settings for action sequences (Fig.2, Fig. 3); the characters jump, run, ride motorbikes across them; they clearly have an aesthetic quality.
The scene that sheds light to the mindset of the youth, their conception of the government and authority, their despair against stereotyping, comes in the second half of the film. When Sam, the victim (who feels safer with the gang than alone), states that they cannot handle the aliens by themselves and they need the police, the youth stare at her in disbelief and discouragement. One says that they might not arrest Sam, but they will arrest the gang. Then a gang member states, in a broken voice: “They arrest us for nothing already” (Attack the Block, 2011). Moses tells his opinion that is the key to the psychology of these youngsters, and the troubled youth from council estates:
“You know what I reckon, yeah? I reckon the feds sent them [the aliens] anyway. Government probably bred those creatures to kill black boys. First they sent drugs to the ends. Then they sent guns. Now they send monsters to get us. They don’t care, man. We ain’t killing each other fast enough, so they decided to speed up the process” (Attack the Block, 2011).
Racial and sociological issues that haunt the youth are laid out in this monologue. The film concisely presents the situation, demanding attention for it. Wacquant’s thoughts about the youth and their desperation towards a better life, and responding to their state the only way they know how, is conveyed in this skillfully crafted film.
After a brutal fight scene in the flat, there is an exterior shot of the block. It shows the monotonous façade organisation, that nothing unusual can be detected by passersby, other than the flicker of the curtains (Fig. 4). The film repeatedly presents the isolated situation the tenants are living in, and the area being treated as a no-go zone. In the end, the police arrest Moses, despite the fact that he blew up the aliens inside his flat and saved the neighbourhood. The attitudes of the kids clearly are because they are afraid, not just of the aliens, but of the police, the government, and for themselves and their future. The film makes use of great comedic moments to tell the story of youth in council estates through fiction, with fleshed out characters and spot on dialogue that adds to the discourse. Sarah Ilott debates that the film uses stereotypic characters such as the gang member and the nurse, turning them into real human beings by showing their complexity through dialogue and plot development. This allows the viewer to examine these stereotypic occurrences’ dominance over the discourse (Ilott, 2013, p. 3). She further adds: “...the films challenge the media and national politics for their complicity in perpetuating the social circumstances largely responsible for creating the ‘monsters’ that they love to hate” (Ilott, 2013, p 15). While this may be the case in Attack the Block, there is no questioning of stereotypes in Harry Brown, rather a hyperbole of the situation.
Harry Brown (2009) is a more serious toned drama-thriller, following an elderly, broken ex-marine around his estate, trying to fight the youth crime with taking matters into his own hands after suffering multiple losses. The film starts with hand-held camera footage of the initiation of a new gang member, the gang riding around the walkways of Heygate Estate on motorbikes, and a random shooting of a mother. This dramatises the issue of gang violence from the beginning. The lighting in the flat of Harry Brown, the protagonist, is dull and dreary. It is showcasing both the architecture and Harry’s psyche. The gang, and the problematic youth are portrayed as more violent and menacing compared to Attack the Block. The underlying problems are not the main focus here, they are the vicious villains.
Early on in the film, Harry observes the gang mucking about around a tenant’s car from his window. As the tenant comes to stop them, he gets attacked and beaten to near death. Only when another woman runs and yells at the gang they decide to leave. Harry himself can only observe rather than take action. This scene exhibits an alternative behaviour of tenants in a local community in the face of violence, and portrays them as powerless against crime. Jacobs’ theory of self-surveillance comes forth once again. Here, the character and the audience is attributed a voyeuristic quality. The gang hangs at an underpass, which is a suggested shortcut, but people, including Harry, are scared to use it. Len, Harry’s close friend, confesses that he is scared of the gang, that they call him names, spit in his face and push dog excrement through his mailbox. He then shows that he is carrying “an old military bayonet”. Harry tries to convince him to contact the police but Len replies that they were not helpful. After confronting the gang, Len is assaulted and killed in the underpass. The massive amount of dramatisation going on in this film may be adding further, unrealistic negativity to the image of council housing. Amplifying the tale of danger and crime in estates this way may be making matters worse.
Lack of maintenance is observable in the film, with litter on walkways, broken and lopsided windows, dirty hallways, etc. Nevertheless, one cannot disregard the fact that the cinematography is excellent in presenting the architecture, in different weather, through very alluring shots for brutalism enthusiasts (Fig. 5). Wonderful shots of the graffiti covered estate as the camera pans down, and overview shots at night justify the use of Heygate Estate as a film location (Fig. 6). Additionally, it evokes emotion from the general observer, whether positive or negative. Harry reluctantly goes on a journey of revenge throughout the film. Although his violence can be tolerated in this fictional world, it is very disturbing to think about in reality. The frustration and helplessness of a regular resident at an estate where crime rates are high must be unbearable, which would be alleviated by the sense of community that would naturally occur. However, this film does not portray a sense of community, there is only the threatening gang and residents who are alone.
Towards the end, the police raid the estate, causing a full-blown riot. The use of space in this scene is intriguing; the gangs are surrounded by the estate and the garages, while some other members are overlooking the vandalism from the ‘streets in the sky’ (Fig. 7). It feels almost like an alley, strangely claustrophobic; although both ends of the passage are open. The argument of how design leads to antisocial behaviour manifests in this scene. Ultimately, it is not just the architecture, nor the social structure of the tenants, nor lack of maintenance and surveillance that cause the housing problem; it is a combined result, unique to each estate. When the action has subsided, a collection of shots of the estate on a clear day is finally seen. The police speak about how the crime rates have gone down after the raid, and with the help of the community, they aim to keep it that way. It is unrealistic, but an inevitable ‘happy’ ending. This is a crime story, and does not intend to deal with the social issues at hand. Rather, it takes the stigma and dramatises it to create a capturing, exciting thriller to watch.
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This paper was originally titled “Representation of Council Estates in Fictional Films: The Heygate Estate and The Mardyke Estate as Locations” written for the module Representation of Cities.
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