Sir Horace Ove is a notably overlooked director for his contributions to British cinema (black British cinema in particular), being one of the earliest directors to even attempt to capture the experiences of West Indian immigrants specifically in Britain. Films about black immigrant characters in the UK, whether they be first or second generation immigrants, are still few and far between today (on a more mainstream scale, it is only really Steve McQueen exploring this specific world with works like Small Axe!) which makes Ove’s effort to bring these experiences to the screen more than 50 years ago in 1975 all the more impressive and noteworthy.
Black British cinema had only really begun back in 1963 with Lloyd Rekord’s famous short film Ten Bob in Winter (also included on this new BFI disc of Pressure), and Ove began his own career in film in 1969 with Baldwin’s N*****, a documentary about the incredible American author James Baldwin.
Ove made his feature debut in 1975 with Pressure, co-written by Ove with Trinidadian author Sam Selvon. The film is considered to be the first full feature length black British film as it follows Tony (Herbert Norville), the son of West Indian immigrants. The film explores the difficulty of his experiences as a second generation immigrant in England finding himself split between the traditions and expectations of his West Indian parents and the very different culture he has grown up with in the UK, also taking time to tackle problems with police corruption, rampant racism and issues regarding employment faced by many black British people throughout the 1970s (and long afterwards).
Utilising an engaging episodic structure to touch on all of these different problems, Pressure is a bold and outwardly political film that manages to sometimes feel like a Mike Leigh-esque observational drama and other times more like Vittorio De Sica’s 1948 classic Bicycle Thieves. Charting Tony’s overall character arc from a young man more than happy to embrace British culture even if it means that he is ostracised by the black people around him (and still never embraced by his white peers because of his skin colour) into a wiser albeit more disillusioned man more passionate about black politics (much like his brother Colin), the film touches on many different problems from different angles with mostly strong performances and an equally strong feeling of authenticity.
It is an extremely well made film, even if some of the performances can sometimes fall into overacting, and an essential one in terms of British cinema history because of the themes that it is bringing to British cinema as well as being the very first film of its kind focused on black British characters and their struggles. The naturalism of the film makes this coming of age story immersive and gritty, and the honesty of the reflections on a number of different themes is intelligent and well done. Pressure ought to be a widely seen British classic, and the fact that it has not yet been more generally embraced is a shock.
Pressure is out now on Blu-ray from BFI
SPECIAL FEATURES
- Restored in 4K by the BFI and The Film Foundation and presented in High Definition
- Audio commentary with producer Robert Buckler and actor Herbert Norville, moderated by Marc David Jacobs
- Baldwin’s N*****(1969, 46 mins): Ové’s striking portrait of the writer James Baldwin at his sharp-witted best, addressing a group of West Indian students in 1960s London
- Horace Ové on Pressure (2005, 36 mins): in this archive interview the acclaimed director discusses his landmark film with future BFI Executive Director for Public Programmes and Audiences, Jason Wood
- Pressure Q&A(2023, 17 mins): academic Dr Clive Nwonka, actor Herbert Norville, producer Annabelle Alcazar, writer Caryl Phillips and filmmaker Rhea Storr, discuss Horace Ové’s Pressure
- Horace Ové: Reflecting the People – A Career Retrospective(2023, 77 mins): producers Annabelle Alcazar, Peter Ansorge, Tara Prem and Marcus Ryder, chair of the Film and TV Charity, discuss the life, work and legacy of filmmaker Horace Ové
- Ten Bob in Winter(1963, 12 mins): Lloyd Rekord’s early classic of Black British cinema about the intriguing social dynamics that arise as a ten shilling note is passed around the Black community
- Jemima + Johnny(1966, 30 mins): the friendship of a young white boy and a Black girl reaches out across the generations in this uplifting mid-60s short set in Notting Hill, directed by South African-born actor and anti-Apartheid activist Lionel Ngakane
- Rerelease trailer (2023, 2 mins)
- Includes optional English descriptive subtitles
- Includes optional audio description track
- **FIRST PRESSING ONLY** Illustrated booklet featuring new writing by Arike Oke and Kevin Le Gendre
