Midlands Review of Red Black Green

midlandsmovies • October 4, 2023

Red Black Green


Directed by Naphat Boonyaprapa


2023


Foot In The Door Productions UK


One of the most widely spouted pieces of advice for creatives is to use what you know as the basis for your projects. East Midlands director, and founder of Foot in the Door Productions, Naphat Boonyaprapa has clearly taken this literally, basing Red, Black, Green on the table tennis club that his brother and he are members of.


Not that the Draycott and Long Eaton Table Tennis Club doesn’t offer plenty that’s worth documenting. The club has a storied history, producing more than 60 national champions, and its current lineup includes three members of the Green family (Connor, Erin and Anna) who have each found success – following in the footsteps of their parents.


Having plenty of access to his subjects, Boonyaprapa paces the film like a gentle conversation, with the audio from the interviews overplaying footage of practise sessions, or sourced footage from Table Tennis England from ranked matches. Through the trainers at the club, the Green family and other competitors, we slowly get a picture of what the club means to those involved.


While an organisation with the level of success that this club has could pile on the pressure of those involved, the interview segments are often focused on how the trainers aim to facilitate individual aims – whether its simple practice, or the more ambitious aim of going professional.


To be blunt though, the club isn’t really the focus. Instead, the emphasis is placed on Connor Green, who following success in the under-21s nationals, is now putting his efforts on the adult male and international titles. It’s understandable why Boonyaprapa chose this focal point, and Connor is an endearing interviewee – equal parts aware of his talent and success and humble.


We get lots of segments from the trainers and Connor’s family discussing his success, and what makes him stand out from the pack at the club. Boonyaprapa has a great sense of direction, slowing ramping up the intensity of the clips used – capturing Connor at pivotal moments in his recent career.


However, at the end you are left with the feeling that there is much more to say. Connor’s sisters feel a little sidelined, despite having their own successes, and there are other members of the club (including some who have some rather important victories over Connor) who are relegated to a couple of brief segments.


Your mileage will also depend on how much you enjoy table tennis. Everyone likes an underdog story, but there are plenty of sports documentaries out there, many covering more mainstream activities.


As a piece of work, Red, Black, Green is an excellent calling card for Boonyaprapa, who uses his own passion for the sport to put together a short, engaging documentary. He shows real chops for factual filmmaking, especially with his combination of exciting footage and gentle interview style. Credit to the rest of the crew (many of whom are students) for the professional work done on this project.


Foot in the Door Productions clearly has a lot of talent in its members, and its exciting to see what they’re able to do next.


★★★

3 / 5


Matthew Tilt

Twitter @Matthew_Tilt

By midlandsmovies April 26, 2025
Up! (1976) Dir. Russ Meyer  Well, bi-Adolf Hitler BDSM is not something (a) I thought I’d ever see 5 minutes into a movie and (b) ever expected to write in my lifetime to be fair but this spicy start is pretty standard for the work of exploitation filmmaker Russ Meyer. Up! is a kind of r*pe-revenge softcore p*rn film (there’s gonna be a fair bit of self-censorship in this review so apologies in advance), the type Meyer is known for. I’d describe the plot in more detail but it’s mostly a convoluted and incoherent mess of double-crossing, murder, violence and lots and lots of humping. In short, a man called Adolph gets murdered and a woman investigates (kinda) the circumstances but as she does so, a group of locals blackmail, attack and screw each other with the murder mystery barely mentioned throughout. With so little narrative, it could be argued if it’s essentially p*rn? To be fair, not far off. It’s about extreme as you can go without simply making a s*x film. Is that a…no, it’s a belly button hole. Bookending the film (and also seen at various points throughout) is a Greek Chorus - simply a busty fully nude woman of course - who delivers dialogue like “Pummelling the scrotum with joyous supplication” and other such poeticisms. This artistic flourish is mostly pointless - the actress herself saying the words were tough to learn because it was utter nonsense. On a technical level, the editing is surprisingly well done and the 4k image is frankly fantastic. Someone somewhere must be putting together a post-modern take about the beautiful landscapes and cinematography of Meyer’s * ahem * output. But it definitely does have a kitsch artistry. It has certainly provided plenty of cinematic influence though. Elements of Tarantino grindhouse sensibilities are on show - Meyers likes bosoms as much as Quents likes feet - and there’s even a leather gimp early on. I can also see how its had an impact on Ti West X’s with a focus on sexuality and the body as well, more obviously, Anna Biller’s feminist-twist The Love Witch (2016). Suffice to say it’s not for the weak of heart. I think in this day and age you can’t go into this completely blind to its style, period and context though. It's an X-rated Carry On style that was bad taste then and it’s bad taste now. It revels in its sleaziness without a single hint of shame or apology. Simply saying 'deal with it'. The main negative though is the absence of plot - if the film can even be looked at like that - which is barely present. This is a shame as the whole thing could do with a bit more coherence rather than endless shagging. But it’s far from titillation, it’s mostly clowning - albeit a very adult version of it. More saucy than sexy. Trying to review this through modern sensibilities is almost impossible. It’s as offensive can be from the first scene through to the final credits - heck even this 4k menu is simply one of the film's many s*x scenes. But there are some progressive themes as it doesn’t shy from confronting sexual freedom, bisexuality, gay sex, BDSM and consensual exploration. There's moments of comedy thrown in and I enjoyed a frankly hilarious 5-minute monologue explaining the culprit’s intentions, which was a ludicrous way to deliver a slasher-style ending. I suppose the main thing about Up! (and Meyers’ work overall) is there’s a sort of love it or loathe it quality about the whole shebang. But it’s so unlike anything being made today - for good or bad - that it’s never anything other than unpredictably fascinating. More explicit than most Meyers films - in fact more than any film - it’s a lewd, rude and crude (s)exploration with a satirical edge and campy enjoyment bouncing from every frame. ★★★ 3 / 5 Michael Sales Severin Films releases Russ Meyers' UP! (1976) and MOTORPSYCHO (1965) on 28 April 2025 in newly restored and scanned 4k with hours of new and archival Special Features https://severinfilms.co.uk/
By midlandsmovies April 26, 2025
On the 24th of April, the Midlands Art Centre opened its doors to Gobby Flicks Productions for a night of live comedy. Proceeds were raised towards the production of new short comedy films, directed and written by women.
By midlandsmovies April 25, 2025
Ti West’s The House of the Devil makes a wonderful companion piece to his film The Innkeepers. Both maintain the director’s referential approach to horror, incapsulating it in a slow burning 90 minutes that manages to build and maintain tension while cheekily winking to the audience and showing the mechanisms behind the scares.
By midlandsmovies April 21, 2025
Read the full list of nominees for the Midlands Movies Awards 2025
Show More