Two decades ago, Ice Cube’s Doughboy offered the classic lament, “either they don’t know, don’t show or don’t care what’s going on in the hood.” In writer/director Malik Vitthal’s reflective debut feature, Imperial Dreams, he shows that while time have changed, the struggle continues.
Fresh out of the jail, Bambi (John Boyega) is returning to the scene of the crime, figuratively. The father of a young son, Day-day, Bambi is staying in a house full of various family members, including his crackhead mother (Kellita Smith) and his drug-dealing uncle Shrimp (Glenn Plummer).
An aspiring writer, Bambi has been chronicling his turbulent life but soon feels the strain of caring for his son and finding employment to satisfy his parole officers and trying to steer clear of the urge to be drawn back into the life by Shrimp. After a heated confrontation between the two men, Bambi moves out the house with his son and lives out of his car.
One classic example is a wonderfully poignant scene where Bambi’s cousin Gideon (De ‘Aundre Bonds) shares with regret a fateful encounter at a party, which resulted in a ten-year old kid being gunned down. Close to emotionally breaking down, he represents Vitthal’s more humane vision for the lives of these characters.
Boyega, who showed so much promise in his debut film, Attack the Block, shows a tender loving side that updates the image that we’ve grown accustomed to in cinema and the media. Instead of his Bambi portrayed as a gang member looking for retribution, he errs on the side of his and his family’s future.
Vitthal also gets solid performances from a bevy of actors in smaller roles including KeKe Palmer, Anika Noni Rose, Plummer and Bonds. Named for Bambi’s writing aspirations, Imperial Dreams is not just Bambi’s state of mind but also a wonderful story of a man clawing to escape his circumstances and change his stars.
Grade: B-