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This is England
2006 Directed by : Shane Meadows
This is England follows the story of Shaun a lone 12 year old boy who has recently lost his father during the Falkland's war, who befriends a group of skin heads that take Shaun under their wing and in many ways become his new family and fill some of the gap left by his father.
Shane Meadows is one of those filmmakers you either love or hate, most of his recent films have been very well recieved in the UK and to most aspiring filmmakers he is percieved as somewhat of an example of what can be achieved on a relatively low budget.
What Meadows does well is make what are often referred to as " kitchen sink " type dramas similar to Ken Loach and Mike Leigh, where the emphasis is on character & story more than budget and effects.
At it's heart, " This is England " is about dissatisfaction of many towards the Tory Government, Margaret Thatcher and their involvement in the Falkland's War, there is a real sense of how desperate Britain was in the early 80's, high levels of unemployment, widespread poverty, the class divide and racisim.
To many the skinheads of the 80's were portrayed as a bunch of racist neo nazi thugs, but Meadows manages to turn that image around 180 degrees at the start as the skinheads Shaun befriends appear to be well adjusted, caring, friendly, polite and as far from the normal percieved image as possible, more so that their group includes a black man called Milky who plays a pivotal role in the film.
The main turning point in the film is the release from prison of Combo, back to claim his old stamping ground, leadership of the gang and the girl of his dreams, even though she's now attached to current leader Woody.
Shaun is taken under Combo's wing much to the dissapointment of the rest, and it's clear that this partnership can only be to Shaun's disadvantage as he is exposed more and more to Combo's true self and the hatered that lies within him.
I enjoyed This is England, for me it's not as good as his previous film " Dead Man's Shoes " but it still has enough on show to keep me intrested throughout, the performances are fine, Thomas Turgoose as Shaun gives a decent performance in his first role, Stephen Graham as Combo has the right mix of kindness and menace required for his role. Andrew Shim as Milky and Joseph Gilgun as Woody for me were the real standouts, both gave a more subtle performance to deeply layered roles, you can clearly feel the unease of both characters every time Combo is around.
To sum up a decent film from Britain's king of low budget filmmaking, most of what Meadows directs is somewhat biographical, it would be intresting to see what he would do with a decent budget at his disposal.
Rating 3.5/5
2006 Directed by : Shane Meadows
This is England follows the story of Shaun a lone 12 year old boy who has recently lost his father during the Falkland's war, who befriends a group of skin heads that take Shaun under their wing and in many ways become his new family and fill some of the gap left by his father.
Shane Meadows is one of those filmmakers you either love or hate, most of his recent films have been very well recieved in the UK and to most aspiring filmmakers he is percieved as somewhat of an example of what can be achieved on a relatively low budget.
What Meadows does well is make what are often referred to as " kitchen sink " type dramas similar to Ken Loach and Mike Leigh, where the emphasis is on character & story more than budget and effects.
At it's heart, " This is England " is about dissatisfaction of many towards the Tory Government, Margaret Thatcher and their involvement in the Falkland's War, there is a real sense of how desperate Britain was in the early 80's, high levels of unemployment, widespread poverty, the class divide and racisim.
To many the skinheads of the 80's were portrayed as a bunch of racist neo nazi thugs, but Meadows manages to turn that image around 180 degrees at the start as the skinheads Shaun befriends appear to be well adjusted, caring, friendly, polite and as far from the normal percieved image as possible, more so that their group includes a black man called Milky who plays a pivotal role in the film.
The main turning point in the film is the release from prison of Combo, back to claim his old stamping ground, leadership of the gang and the girl of his dreams, even though she's now attached to current leader Woody.
Shaun is taken under Combo's wing much to the dissapointment of the rest, and it's clear that this partnership can only be to Shaun's disadvantage as he is exposed more and more to Combo's true self and the hatered that lies within him.
I enjoyed This is England, for me it's not as good as his previous film " Dead Man's Shoes " but it still has enough on show to keep me intrested throughout, the performances are fine, Thomas Turgoose as Shaun gives a decent performance in his first role, Stephen Graham as Combo has the right mix of kindness and menace required for his role. Andrew Shim as Milky and Joseph Gilgun as Woody for me were the real standouts, both gave a more subtle performance to deeply layered roles, you can clearly feel the unease of both characters every time Combo is around.
To sum up a decent film from Britain's king of low budget filmmaking, most of what Meadows directs is somewhat biographical, it would be intresting to see what he would do with a decent budget at his disposal.
Rating 3.5/5