The Tribe (2006)

What exactly is the point being made here? Is it that walking around in a group wearing dark clothing, eating insects for tea, sleeping with multiple partners both female and male, living as a communion in a grotty abandoned building and spending the day flogging knocked-off phones is a good way to live? If it is, then Mr Poliakoff doesn't set out his argument well... There are so many character shifts, contradictions and inconsistencies here, I got the feeling he was making it up as he went along. He has at his disposal a cast of brilliant British actors (And Anna Friel) and gets them to behave like ninnies for 100 minutes, with the odd nudie shot thrown in. In fact, I could just delete this whole review, and sum it up in two words: 'Pretentious Twaddle'. Now why didn't I think of that before... 3/10

This film is about a concept which most people don't tend to think about: how could a group of people isolate themselves from surroundings which they don't like and manage to lead a paradisiac life? Admittedly the story is sometimes a bit silly, but if you complain about these things you're missing the point, which is about how willing people might be to leave their current life, job, wife, etc. I really liked this film, and it's a shame it's not available to buy.

I really liked this. It was really nice to see so refreshingly different. I thought it was interesting to explore how such a 'tribe' such as that featured in the film might survive in todays world and how they would work to stand together and overcome intolerance and fear of others who refuse to understand or live and let live. Also good to see such great British actresses as Laura Fraser and Anna Friel on our screens.

Stephen Poliakoff is a true genius and this is him at his best. The Tribe, in my opinion, succeeds on many levels. On one level it is a simple tale of seduction and cultural repression but on the other hand it can be seen as a statement for the state of society today. It represent what society does to those people who seem different towards them. They are no threat towards anyone but as they decide to go their own way in life the rest of the world seem to feel that they need to do something about them. Poliakoff's use of startling colours and majestic sweeping settings help to create a world which is the one we live yet so distant and alien like it doesn't seem to have any connection to ours at all. I feel this is one of the greatest T.V programmes of all time and highly underrated for what it is. As the BBC never felt fit to release this on any format, in any country it is very hard to get hold of. But it is worth checking out if you can lay your hands on a copy.