Fresh | |
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Theatrical release poster |
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Directed by | Boaz Yakin |
Produced by | Lawrence Bender Randy Ostrow |
Written by | Boaz Yakin |
Starring | Sean Nelson Giancarlo Esposito Samuel L. Jackson N'Bushe Wright |
Music by | Stewart Copeland |
Distributed by | Miramax Films |
Release date(s) | August 24, 1994 |
Running time | 114 min. |
Language | English |
Budget | $3,500,000 |
Box office | $8,094,616 |
Fresh is a 1994 crime film written and directed by Boaz Yakin in his film directorial debut, and produced by Lawrence Bender (seen in a cameo appearance), who at the time was riding the wave of success of Reservoir Dogs. It was scored by Stewart Copeland, an ex-band member of The Police.
Marketed at the time as a hip hop 'hood film, Fresh went relatively unnoticed by the public, but won critical acclaim for being an intense and poetic drama working on different levels. It is both an emotional coming of age story and a realistic portrayal of the dangerous life in the projects - while at the same time the whole film can be seen as a metaphorical chess game.
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Set in the violent and gang-ridden projects of Brooklyn, New York, Fresh tells the story of Michael, nicknamed Fresh (portrayed by Sean Nelson), a 12-year old kid running drugs for the local drug lords, notably Esteban (Giancarlo Esposito). Inspired by the chess lessons of his father, an alcoholic speed-chess master (Samuel L. Jackson), Fresh devises and executes a brilliant plan to extricate himself and his drug addicted sister (N'Bushe Wright) from their hopeless lives.
A soundtrack containing hip hop music was released on August 30, 1994 by RCA Records. It featured three songs by members of Wu-Tang Clan, with the rest being old school hip hop.
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