Saturday — April 15th 1989: Justice for the 96
A beautiful part of my life is my adoration for my club, Liverpool. The grandeur of the club and the intensify of the fans, the passion which transcends a mere screen or the simple game — it is a real heartwarming substance to support Liverpool FC. Growing my understanding of the club naturally developed, to a point wrongdoings against the club or players received my unrivalled support. The most tragic event of the clubs history remains a dark cloud and today is its 28th anniversary — Hillsborough, the game in which 24,000 Liverpool fans travelled and 96 did not return. To their families and friends, to the glorious club, men, women and children never came home.
When we consider events these days it feels a number game, in a sense of amounting the damage not sympathetically but systematically. The causation, blame and aim of those involved. Though a story or rather perspective in this incident which is somewhat untold is how the livelihood of the people was effected. Saturday follows an 8 year old boy who comes from a Family of Liverpool supporters. On the afternoon of Hillsborough it follows what seems a usual day, gradually pacing itself to the worry of what occurred. As the Radio inferred the damage and restlessness of not knowing was evident, it humanises an event which is infamous for its political weight.
Hence the director Mike Forshaw approached the incident from this angle, claiming the immediacy of the impact on family has been overlooked. Certainly I never considered it at such an angle, the amount of worried and uninformed, the attendees who went to the game by chance and lost their life. Those who can never forget and always associate the game with the loss of their loved ones. How possibilities can be so horrid, though evidently it could have all been avoided. The angle is surreal as it contrasts a simplicity in interaction and being Human, that adventurous part of childhood and its innocence pitted against the terrible sounds and mental images of Hillsborough.
Recently the systematic light of Society especially in communities that have a constructed stigma around them is constantly addressed. For instance articles that attempt to demonise an identity or type of people, I argue the response by the ill willed — (The S*n) championed that stigma. Creating underhanded lies to sell papers and infuriate, adding to the denial of true justice within the situation. Though the political and media frame is of small relevance within this short film that captures the essence of the livelihood on that day. How the norm quickly changed as the tragic incident unfolded. The interconnected stories and analogous cinematography dive into an understanding of the event I could not otherwise empathise with. Realising the connections between the fans, the shared empathy of the Footballing World, the Hillsborough incident is hurled into a conversation that stands above its reality.
In a sense of the trauma, safety and impact on a community — the unison in which fans stood by their radio sets and TVs anticipating the outcome. Forshaw stated he aimed to film Saturday in a way that captured other ideas. The gruesome details of overcrowding, crushing, lies attached to the fans and such presents a state of disaster, instead he wanted a fresh perspective. The emotive sense of the film amounts in every way, the radio sounds and keen visuals depicting the transitions of feelings adds to the conception Hillsborough. It is a fantastic heartfelt short film that has added a deeper dynamic to the event. The 96 is not merely a number, it is a compilation of relationships damaged by irresponsibility of authority and the justice they deserve.
You’ll Never Walk Alone.
You can watch the short film here: https://www.shortoftheweek.com/2017/04/14/saturday/
