This Is England
Monday, 30 Apr 2007 10:38
This Is England tackles Britain in the grimy 80s
Written and directed by Shane Meadows, out now in cinemas, starring Thomas Turgoose, Stephen Graham, Joseph Gilgun, Jo Hartley and Andrew Shim, running time 103 minutes.
In a nutshell…
Vibrant, funny, compelling, devastating, truthful.
What's it all about?
Shaun Field (Thomas Turgoose) is a 12-year-old boy growing up in an England characterised by Roland Rat, the Rubik's cube and three-and-a-half million unemployed. His father has been killed in the Falklands and he is bullied at school. So when, after a particularly bad day, he meets Woody (Gilgun) and his skinhead mates, Gadget, Pukey, Banjo and Milky (the only black member of the gang) in a tunnel, he is instantly drawn to them. Finding himself endeared to the boy, kind-hearted Woody takes Shaun under his wing and in time a shaved head, Doc Marten boots and full membership of the gang follow. The skins enjoy numerous harmless antics together, the most destructive of which involves smashing up disused council houses, until an old member, Combo (Graham), returns after three years in prison. Filled with racist bitterness, he divides the gang and makes Shaun choose between himself and Woody.
Who’s in it?
Newcomer Thomas Turgoose, an untrained actor, is astonishing as Shaun. Like the England he inhabits, he is a heap of contradictions. His small frame and innocent face belie his brazen gobbiness and the foul, racist curses that his mouth emits are made all the more deplorable in contrast to his simple, childish giggles.
Stephen Graham puts in a spell-binding performance as Combo. A less talented actor would be capable of filling the audience with nothing but one-dimensional disgust for such a character. Yet the feelings Graham evokes are infinitely more complex. While his hatred and violence are shocking, they resonate with a deep-seated pain and underlying jealousy of the Pakistani and Jamaican families that surround him.
As an example
"If you don't fight that fight that's going on in the streets, then your dad died for nothing. In your f***ing little heart, you've got the pride of your dad." - Combo emotionally blackmails Sean into following him.
"Our country is being stolen from under our noses. The time has come to take it back." -National Front spokesman at a rally.
Likelihood of a trip to the Oscars
Similarly to Meadows' previous two biggest films, Dead Man Shoes and Once Upon a Time in the Midlands, This Is England is probably too gritty and too English to make an impression on the Academy panel. However, it is likely to go down well at the Baftas, has already won two British Independent Film Awards and is sure to be a critical hit.
What the others say
"Honest, vivid and funny." – FHM
"Deeply impressive." - Empire
So is it any good?
Unlike other films that attempt to deal with this sensitive issue, This Is England leaves no stone unturned when it comes to exploring what exactly it is that throbs at the ugly, angry heart of racism. Ideological hypocrisy, ignorance and thuggery are all made glaringly apparent, yet what makes this film stand out is that even the most despicable of its characters are depicted through the eye of compassion, not of contempt.
Moreover, in his semi-autobiographical film, Meadows succeeds admirably at bringing out the origins of skinhead culture and its West Indian influences, rather than simply its more widely recognised aggressive associations. If you were expecting to go to the cinema and be writhing with discomfort in your seat from the outset, you’d be wrong. About half of the film is a tribute to coming of age in the 80s, coloured by fond nostalgia and a blistering, evocative soundtrack that has been laid down with love. But more than that, Meadows brings out the warmth of human contact, the affection and the empowerment of tribal camaraderie that come with belonging to a gang. This sense of belonging is made all the more poignant when portrayed in contrast to Sean's friendless loneliness set against a bleak rural backdrop in the early stages of the film.
Yet this dependence on leadership is shown to be fragile and easy to exploit. At a time when the threat of impressionable young people facing recruitment into extremist factions is ever present, this accurate tale about displacement, brainwashing and loyalty is as poignant today as ever. The ability to genuinely engage with the characters, a provocative and relevant topic and a masterful cinematic eye ensure that This Is England is what great film-making is all about.
10/10
Natasha Hegde
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