Ish is a difficult film to encapsulate on paper. Freewheeling and optimistic, brave and brutal, yet savagely honest about British society and the divisions that divide it. Writer-director Imran Perretta has captured something exquisite in her use of a black and white palette that will instantly captivate audiences. Key to that enchantment are the central performances from Farhan Hasnat and Yahya Kitana.
As Ish and Maram, they are the emotional nucleus of this film allowing audiences to experience the ebb and flow of their journey through peer group and parental pressure. It is an understated slice of social commentary that will blindside people with the beauty of inner-city life seen through the eyes of an impressionable adolescent.
It pulses with an on-screen electricity, charged by the presence of outside influences quietly engaged in racial profiling. Ish is rife with an ignorance projected from across the ethic tracks, that demonstrates how dangerous miscommunication can be when it comes to creating unrest. Perretta weaves these heavyweight themes into a disarmingly optimistic story, without allowing audiences the right to lose sight of their importance.
Images Courtesy of the BFI
In a word, this is breathtaking stuff that showcases an emotional connection to the subject matter that would be lessened by another director. Her ability to draw out truly complex performances from her central pairing, reveals an innate understanding of the topic without a need for grandstanding. Showing the inherent injustice metered out to those born within different cultures but forced to co-exist alongside those who see diversity as a disease to be dealt with.
This might seem like a harsh summation of Ish, but there is such beauty that sits in parallel to these hard-hitting themes it is impossible not to be completely bewitched by the film. Farhan Hasnat possesses such an unencumbered naturalism onscreen as Ish that elements feel like they are lifted from a documentary. The push and pull of his formative relationship with Yahya Kitana as Maram highlight his growing pains without resorting to cliche.
With a degree of street smarts conveyed on- camera, Ish navigates a vibrant and uncertain Luton looking for guidance, before embracing his rebellious streak just to fit in. Lacking the steady hand of a maternal role model, and processing grief without the aid of a stable influence, there are moments of poignancy here that transcend divisions and tap into universal truths.
There are so many masterstroke moments in this movie that could easily have gone by unnoticed, but Imran Perretta lets them linger in the aftermath. There is a clash between the brutality of intolerance in opposition to the beauty and optimism forged between friends that shapes Ish until its melancholy conclusion. This is why cinema transcends other visual artforms on certain levels, and why Ish should be considered essential viewing.
Ish is on general release in selected UK cinemas now.