| Cass | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical Poster | |
| Directed by | Jon S. Baird |
| Written by | Cass Pennant |
| Starring | Nonso Anozie Natalie Press Reece Allen |
| Music by | Matteo Scumaci |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Optimum Releasing |
Release date |
|
Running time | 100 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Cass is a 2008 British crime drama film. It stars Nonso Anozie as Cass Pennant and is directed by Jon S. Baird.
Cass is based on the true story of the life of Cass Pennant, adapted from his book. The film tells of how he was adopted by an elderly white couple in 1958 and brought up in Slade Green, an all-white area of London. Cass is forced to endure racist bullying on a daily basis from local children, who also ridicule his feminine-sounding name, "Carol", a name given to him at birth. Cass finds through violence the respect he never had and becomes addicted to the buzz of fighting. Cass leads the Inter City Firm to victories against large hooligan firms, such as Leeds in 1980, but becomes frustrated with the lack of publicity the ICF are receiving. So he creates cards with the infamous slogan, "Congratulations, you have just met the famous ICF", and gives a TV interview, increasing the firm's notoriety for humiliation, their speciality. However, the government under Margaret Thatcher begins to come down hard on hooliganism, and after an organised attack on a group of Newcastle United supporters, Cass is imprisoned for four years. Whilst in Wormwood Scrubs, Cass begins writing his autobiography, in the hope he can generate some income upon the book being published; however his writings are confiscated by the prison upon his release.
Cass is delighted to receive a hero's welcome upon his return, and begins dating Elaine (Natalie Press). This, as well as Cass's rejection of his biological parents after their attempts to contact him, improves his relationship with his adoptive parents after they began to disapprove of his violent lifestyle. Despite having a good relationship with Elaine, Cass is still lured to the violence of hooliganism, and when one of his best friends, Prentice (Gavin Brocker), is attacked by Arsenal supporters with knives, Cass seeks revenge. He is stabbed in the following fight, and Elaine is disgusted, fearing he is returning to his old ways, as she reveals she is pregnant with his child.
As time progresses to the early 1990s, the ecstasy era takes over, and hooliganism becomes less of an attraction for Cass, and for many other hooligan firms. By 1992, he has settled down in Penge, South London, with his young son and Elaine, who is pregnant again. Cass gets a job as a bouncer outside nightclubs, working for Ray (Tamer Hassan), a long-time friend from his ICF days. However one evening, just after starting a shift at the nightclub, Cass is shot three times by the group of Arsenal supporters that he feuded with back in the 1980s. Cass survives, but wakes up to hear the tragic news that his mother has died.
In the following weeks, Cass is haunted by his demons after the shooting; he sees visions of his attacker, he can't sleep and on one occasion, makes a violent outburst at his son. Cass's friend Ray has tracked down his attackers and offers Cass the opportunity to kill them. Cass is taken to a pub and holds a gun to his attacker's head at point-blank range, but decides not to pull the trigger. The film ends as Cass walks away from the pub and into the distance.
Pennant himself plays a cameo role in the movie as the character "Biggs", who is one of the bouncers.
Teenage section;
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Hooliganism is disruptive or unlawful behavior such as rioting, bullying and vandalism, usually in connection with crowds at sporting events.
The Football Factory is a 2004 British sports drama film written by AJ Lovell and directed by Nick Love and starring Danny Dyer, Tamer Hassan, Frank Harper, Roland Manookian, Neil Maskell and Dudley Sutton. The film is loosely based on the novel of the same name by John King and the first foray into filmmaking by video game producers Rockstar Games, credited as executive producers. The film was released in the United Kingdom on 14 May 2004.
Football hooliganism, also known as soccer hooliganism, football rioting or soccer rioting, constitutes violence and other destructive behaviours perpetrated by spectators at association football events. Football hooliganism normally involves conflict between gangs, in English known as football firms, formed to intimidate and attack supporters of other teams. Other English-language terms commonly used in connection with hooligan firms include "army", "boys", "bods", "casuals", and "crew". Certain clubs have long-standing rivalries with other clubs and hooliganism associated with matches between them is likely to be more severe.
The Inter City Firm (ICF) is an English football hooligan firm associated with West Ham United, which was mainly active in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s. The name came from the use of InterCity trains to travel to away games. They were the subject of a 1985 Thames Television documentary, Hooligan.
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Andy Nicholls, is an English former football hooligan, manager, and author of a number of books on football hooliganism. He has been banned from every ground in England and Wales. He was banned for life from the home ground of the team he supports but the club allowed him back in due to the amount of work he does for their charity Everton in the Community Everton, Goodison Park. and has served three months in prison for football related violence.
The Millwall Bushwackers are the most notorious football firm associated with Millwall Football Club. The club and fans of Millwall have a historic association with football hooliganism, which came to prevalence in the 1970s and 1980s with a firm known originally as F-Troop, eventually becoming more widely known as the Millwall Bushwackers, who were one of the most notorious hooligan gangs in England. On five occasions The Den was closed by the Football Association and the club has received numerous fines for crowd disorder. Millwall's hooligans are regarded by their rivals as amongst the stiffest competition, with Manchester United hooligan Colin Blaney describing them as being within the 'top four' firms in his autobiography 'Undesirables' and West Ham hooligan Cass Pennant featuring them on his Top Boys TV YouTube channel, on which this fearsome reputation for violence was described.
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The 6.57 Crew is an English football hooligan firm linked to Portsmouth F.C. The name, 6.57 Crew is taken from the time that the Portsmouth to London Waterloo train left Portsmouth and Southsea station. The firm were one of the most active firms in the 1980s and caused chaos wherever they went.
Carol "Cass" Pennant, is an English writer and former football hooligan.
The Capital City Service (CCS) is a Scottish football hooligan firm associated with Hibernian F.C. and active from 1984 when the casual hooligan subculture took off in Scotland. Their roots were in the previous incarnations of hooligan groups attached to the club and also the wider Edinburgh and surrounding area's gang culture. They are more commonly known in the media and amongst the public as the Hibs Casuals, although within the hooligan network they may also be referred to as Hibs Boys.
Beginning in at least the 1960s, the United Kingdom gained a reputation worldwide for football hooliganism; the phenomenon was often dubbed the British or English Disease. However, since the 1980s and well into the 1990s the UK government has led a widescale crackdown on football related violence. While football hooliganism has been a growing concern in some continental European countries in recent years, British football fans now tend to have a better reputation abroad. Although reports of British football hooliganism still surface, the instances now tend to occur at pre-arranged locations rather than at the matches themselves.
The Hooligan Factory is a 2014 football hooliganism spoof film directed, co-written and starring Nick Nevern. The film heavily parodies titles from the British hooligan genre films and focuses mainly on The Firm, along with The Football Factory, Rise of the Footsoldier, I.D., Green Street and Cass.
Bill Gardner is an English football supporter, former football hooligan and co-author of books on football hooliganism.
Dragon Rider, also known as Firedrake the Silver Dragon by Netflix, is a 2020 3D computer-animated fantasy film; while officially based on the 1997 novel of the same name by Cornelia Funke, the film takes influence from the How to Train Your Dragon series by Cressida Cowell, with its visuals and marketing based on that of the DreamWorks franchise. The film was due to be released in theatres on 6 August 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the film release was postponed until 1 October 2020.