The Lords of Flatbush

A small masterpiece that places the mood and general ethos of the '50s with absolute precision and total affection. The Lords are a teenage high school leather gang in Brooklyn - or as they winningly call themselves, 'a social and athletic club'. The film observes their relationships and muffed sexual encounters over some months in 1958, the year one of their number gets married. Verona and Davidson direct superbly - the film's silences are every bit as telling as the perfectly judged dialogue - and it is shot and edited with a welcome degree of wit. Above all, the characters are all real, rather than academic or sentimental recreations. (The title is rendered on screen as The Lord's of Flatbush.) VG.