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LFF - 'This is England' review
Shane Meadows has another winner on his hands with this tale of skinhead culture in the early 1980s.
Oct 25 2006
Set in the midlands in the summer of 1983, 'This is England' is a powerful coming-of-age tale from 'Dead Man's Shoes' writer-director Shane Meadows.
Kicking off with a hotchpotch of images and sounds from the period that juxtaposes Roland Rat and the Rubik's Cube with scenes of civil unrest and fighting on the streets, Meadows then introduces us to Shaun, a miserable, lonely 12-year-old struggling to come to terms with the death of his father in the Falklands.
Young and impressionable, Shaun is surrounded by the culture of violence, be it fights in the playground, racism on the streets or corporal punishment at school.
Desperate to find a father figure, role model or even just a friend, it's not long before he's adopted by the local gang of skinheads who introduce him to a world of Doc Martins, Ben Shermans, wild parties and first loves.
So far, so good, but when local hardman Combo is released from prison, events take a dark and sinister turn, as growing resentment about unemployment and immigration simmer before finally exploding in violence and tragedy.
Loosely autobiographical, it's a brave film to make in this time of political correctness, with Meadows making clear and unapologetic parallels with the England of today.
The performances are spot on, with newcomer Thomas Turgoose outstanding as Shaun and 'Snatch' star Stephen Graham giving the star-making performance he's been threatening for years as Combo.
And while 'This is England' may not have the emotional punch of 'Dead Man's Shoes' (what does?), it's still confrontational, incendiary stuff that underlines Meadows' position as one of Britain's most important filmmakers.
User comments on this story
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- Roger Howard said...
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It has really surprised me that nobody has mentioned the true fact of Thomas Turgoose as Shaun in the film.
This young lad is not a trained actor,infact you will find from the extras on dvd he does not like acting at all.
Infact if I can be so honhest I really beleive his performance is equall to the young lad in ken Loaches 'KES' from 1969.
Quite simply Thomas Turgoose's performance is the most natural child performance I have ever seen in any British Film in history. Posted on Oct 13 2007 01:27 - Report as inappropriate
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- mickyboy said...
- i was 22 in 1983 i new a few skins fantastic film . and acting great soundtrack brought back lots of memorys 5 star Posted on Sep 06 2007 16:21
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- Phillip Hall said...
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I am not saying there was not 'nice skin heads' ben sherman was the fashion etc..
I firstly questioning the accuracy of some of the themes, how unrealistic elements of the film are,
Strong language, violence and racism may have been very much the thing of the time between some skin heads, but if he was going to pull off a very difficult film like this, There had to be some sort of resolution, retribution, condemnation of the actions of characters. Open your eyes it was very basic, as was the acting of Shaun (Why do people continue to praise his performance) Posted on May 21 2007 10:24 - Report as inappropriate
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- natalie chance said...
- Well phillip i disagree, you obviously dont see how much effort shane meadows has put into this film! He wants to show you what it was like being in 1983 when the best fashion was doctor martins, ben sherman shirts and the parties and true love which is still here to this very day! He has proven that skinheads are not all bullies and some want to be good friends and role models to younger generations. He wants to prove that england was not always a happy place ie. the violence and strong language which is also demonstrated to this very day. The reason why shane did this was to show his very own expereince and concept of this whole scenario! Posted on May 21 2007 09:17
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- Phillip Hall said...
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Inaccurate, Very simplistic, to be perfectly honest, rubbish film, I feel robbed of my money.
Storyline was very loose and extremely inaccurate.
For example the part when Shaun's mum enters the cafe, to express her disgust to the gang, her son was invovled with, then decides, no its ok, My son will be fine with you
Shaun and Smells relationship, to be honest, what was going on there unbelievably unrealistic and pointless.
The fact that it indicates towards the end that all Combos anger seemed to be based on the fact he didnt have a father!! Which was never addressed previously!
Severall pointless clips of Faulklands?????
I could go on! Not a good film at all
Can honesly not see why people are raving about this film!!! Posted on May 20 2007 16:33 - Report as inappropriate
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- tim said...
- I really did not like it. It bore little resembelance to my experience of Skin heads in 1983. I never met a nice skin head like woody. By '83 the portrayed switch from skinheads as style cult to skin heads as thugs had llong since happend. Also a factual annoyance. Cross of St George was not really used as a nazi emblem then, more union jack , This irritated my pedantry. Finally I just found it all the sentiment a bit forced and simplistic (eg shaun Turnign from not racist to racist back to not racist) Posted on May 11 2007 12:16
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- Les Bell said...
- I thought it was ok, I found all the snogging with the little kid hard to stomach tho. Posted on May 07 2007 12:15
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- scarpelli said...
- Saw it Yesterday. Frightening, difficult, excellent. Wonderful performances and brave material. Good to see Eli from Emmerdale! Posted on Apr 29 2007 14:09
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- Steven Goodman said...
- Just seen it today and I must Congradulate Shane meadows on capturing the flavour of the 80's and the skinhead cult, important in as much as he highlights the division between the nazis and reggae loving skinheads a factor overlooked by other producers of skinhead orientated movies Posted on Nov 02 2006 00:55
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- Mike said...
- Tremendous! Posted on Oct 26 2006 11:38
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- Chris Tilly said...
- Meant to say that, the soundtrack is indeed great - lots of reggae and two tone - some Percy Sledge, The Specials, lots of Toots and the Maytals. And a great Smiths cover at the end. Will defo be buying it! Posted on Oct 25 2006 16:19
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- Mike said...
- I bet it has a great soundtrack. Skinhead films always have good sountracks. As do Shane Meadows films. It must be brilliant. Posted on Oct 25 2006 14:19
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