So I went to the world première of Snatch last night, and I can now give you the low down on the film and the event. Quick bit of preliminary guff first though – I wasn’t actually looking forward to going because I felt under a considerable amount of pressure to like the film, since my flatmate worked on it. I was terrified that I’d have to look her in the eye for months and tell her how much I loved it when I’d been cringing in my seat and squirming with horror. And worse, I’d have to be convincing. As it turned out this wasn’t necessary – thank god.
The movie is similar to Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels in that it takes place around London’s seedier parts, has a large cast of wide boys and loveable (and not so loveable) gangsters and rogues, has large amounts of stylised camera angles and slo-mo, and almost cracks under the weight of the soundtrack, which is bombastic, ever present and – at times – rather over-bearing. The most obvious difference between the two films is that Snatch is a much darker enterprise – with more violence, more cruelty and a much darker wit.
The first ten minutes are excruciatingly bad. Whether that is to do with the sound levels or the fact that it involves a group of people dressed as orthodox Jews holding up a diamond warehouse while talking about Catholicism is hard to say, but it really is astonishingly poor. But once you’re past that, the film is a success, with Brad Pitt being a particular treat. There has to be a fair amount of comedy in having a $20 million star in a film and not being able to understand a word that he says…
It’s not really a date movie, it may be more of a guy film than a girl film, and it’s not for the faint of heart. There’s one scene with a couple of dogs and a hare that will probably rile a number of people as well. But at heart it really is a good film – and well worth watching.