The creatively titled Bastards of the Party is an up-front historical take on the gangs of LA, told from a present blood and crips perspective by blood member and director Cle Shaheed Sloan aka. Bone. Instead of neglecting everything gang related, Sloan wonders about the origins of gang culture in LA, in an attempt to understand and change these into a culturally and socially productive force.

The film embarks on a depressing journey into the afro-american history in LA, starting from the time of slavery until the present. The main focus is from the 1950s and up; 5 decades with more sophisticatedly hidden, exploitative treatment of anyone with dark skin, forcing them into an echonomical cramp. From these conditions - with no trust in either gourvernment or the police - rose the revolutionary gang cultures of LA; most known are the Black Panthers and the african-american nationalistic "US Organization" segments in LA. The following assassination of the leader of the LA Black Panthers (which was encouraged by the LA police force) left a disillusioned, opportunistic afro-american generation, with a cynical focus on personal profit rather than black solidarity. One of the directors' conclusions, is that the blood and crips conditions are the effects of this history, and that the whole "black killing blacks" culture in these gangs is based on an illusonary conflict, setup by a white gourvernment and the FBI back in the Panthers/US days, in order to control and undermine - not only gang culture in LA - but general independent organizational efforts by afro-american citizens. Conspiratory, yet possibly true.

This last sentence sums up my sole problem with the documentary (and most documentaries of this type). Not all experts and other sources of facts are introduced properly. You're expected to believe that the interviewed persons are saying the truth, as the movie doesn't have any explicit questioning or doubt about anything stated by them. When that is said, the amount and selection of interviewed persons is quite staggering, and most have both insider (a lot of both bloods and crips are interviewed) and outsider (academics, former FBI among others) comments that are interesting and unnerving.

As a documentary, it's not at all evident that this is a debut effort. On the contrary, the pace and entertainment factor is high throughout the film, especially in parts focusing on LA gang history - that's quite an achivement for a new director. The soundtrack is complimentary put together, and the film doesn't cross any line of forced sentimentality or drama, but works well as a reality check on the present blood/crip gang, and especially why the phenomenon exists in modern America. Recommended for everyone.

7/10

Reviewed by Lars Andersen