Fly a Flag for Poplar

Those convinced that the proper translation of cinéma-vérité is cinema boredom will have their belief confirmed by this documentary tribute to Poplar's community spirit. Large, inert slabs of it are devoted to the day-to-day doings of its people, particularly those organising a neighbourhood festival: mums prepare meals, a clergyman greets passers-by, a Ford worker drives to Dagenham, someone performs on the spoons. The fragmentary reconstruction of Poplar's past, using newsreels and photographs, is far more interesting; and the print quality is often better, too.