I don’t get musicals. Never have and never will. I am probably not the best person to talk about “London Road”. I can however weigh in from the perspective of an outsider to the genre. The film is set in a neighbourhood on, you guessed it, London Road! A grim series of murders has recently occurred and left the residents of the street rattled. A man has killed five prostitutes that had been conducting their business after hours, on the streets. On the heels of the 5th murder, the London Road residents are interviewed so that they can tell their stories. The proceedings get interesting as an arrest is made and a consequent trial is all set to take place. Chilling stuff! Or so I thought.
Even Tom Hardy’s luscious lips couldn’t save “London Road” for me. For one thing they only appear for about 3 minutes and when they do he uses them to sing. I know. Major waste. Very un-Mad Max-like. The music in “London Road” is melodic and catchy at times. It builds the eerie atmosphere well. I found the singing to be the most difficult to grasp. At most times, the characters start off talking. They then stutter into a song, latching on to the background music one beat at a time. It was hard for me to follow but I don’t think the rest of the audience members had that problem. On my way out I heard many “I loved it!”s and “It was fantastic!”s. The musical evidently has quite the fan following on stage, which the film seems to have recreated faithfully.
I kept waiting for more to happen throughout the film. The court scenes are quite anti-climactic and just boring really. I enjoyed the song that two schoolgirls sing as they go around town speculating on the identity of the killer. I found most of the residents of the street to be selfish and vapid. All they care about is how the murders make their street look. There is little concern for the prostitutes who are still in danger with the criminal at large. We do get a song from the prostitutes themselves though. It is poignant and touching. The women sit on some sort of water tower on the fringes of the town. Dried-up flower bouquets of mourning are tied to the railings around them that show the fragility of these women. The flowers cleverly convey the sadness and danger of their predicaments. I would have liked to see more justice been doled out to them rather than having all the focus directed on to the plush London Road residents. Perhaps that is the point the filmmaker is making. The film shows the horrifying disconnect between the so-called general public and the marginalised. Even so, I could not help but feel empty and dissatisfied. I felt sad being forced to watch the residents concern themselves with their gardens, and feel sorry for themselves. The makers could have created a more feelgood balance if they had fleshed out the characters of the prostitutes a bit more and given them more screen time.
The singing is top-notch. The harmonies are beautiful and the cast manages to switch between singing and talking well. I liked getting that EastEnderish feel from the film. That small English town vibe is quite delicious. As a shameless anglophile, aesthetically the film hit all the right spots for me. Unfortunately it did not have the strong moral core that I was expecting. If you are a fan of musicals this one is a very different looking one. It will be a breath of fresh air for you. It is somewhat socially relevant (it definitely could be more). It is also interesting to see the genre of a musical being used in an unusually grim setting. Think Sweeney Todd but more contemporary. If you are not a fan of musicals I would confidently suggest you skip it. The songs might test your patience and the length of the film might be uncomfortable for you, as it was for me. This is strictly for the lovers of musicals.
-Prachi Kamble