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Shane Meadows returns with 'This is England'

The 'Dead Man's Shoes' director will draw on his own experiences to examine the rise of the National Front's y

May 13 2005

UPDATE - 'This is England' feature here.

After last year's brilliant, unforgettable 'Dead Man's Shoes', Shane Meadows has announced his next film, a hard-hitting drama that will deal with homegrown racism in the UK.

'Oi! This is England' will be set in the Midlands in the summer of 1983, and tell the tale of an 11-year-old boy who loses his father, shaves his head and falls in with the local division of the National Front.

The uncompromising story will revolve around the race riots that were tearing Thatcher's Britain apart at the time, and Meadows admits that much of it is inspired by his own experiences growing up in Uttoxeter in the early 1980s.

'The pulsing music and the skin-tight fashion, the "fuck the state" attitude and the primal violence left an enormous emotional print on me,' he told Variety. 'I believe this period of my life is the reason I became a filmmaker.'

The 'TwentyFourSeven' director is also calling the project his most overtly political film to date.

Filming is due to start soon, although there's no word yet as to whether Paddy Considine, Meadows' longtime collaborator and sometime writing partner, will play any part in proceedings.

User comments on this story

!!! said...

ooo moody fucking prick !!!! I clearly stated 'not sure how true this is!'
And there's plenty of skinheads who don't like mixed raced people. One of the characters in the film for instance! Not all skinheads are racist but a majority are, so get real!!!! Posted on Apr 11 2007 15:53

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Lex Angel said...

!!! What are you talking about? There wouldn't be Skinheads without black culture mixing with white culture. It's irrelevant who's stronger. You obviously didn't understand the film. As for your comment about buying it on copied DVD, it's not banned, it will be out at cinemas on the 27th. What would it be banned for, anyway? Also, it's no longer called "Oi! This Is England", just "This Is England" in case you can't find the listings. Posted on Apr 11 2007 12:25

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!!! said...

If you want to buy OI! This is England, you might have trouble finding it, brought it today on pirate, and the bloke said it's apparrently been/being banned. Not sure how true it is, but go to a bootsale & find someone who is selling pirate dvd's and they should have it !! Brilliant quality !!!!!! Posted on Apr 09 2007 15:30

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!!! said...

My mum and dad both use to be skinheads & my dad still is. I think we need more skinheads BACK, and not these fake teenagers that shave their heads and call themselves skins.
I saw this picture on google images when i typed british skinheads, and it made me feel sick - a skinhead with his light blue jeans, dr.martins and a white shirt tucked in, getting the shit beating out of him by a black!! Face covered in blood and trying to get up!! It made me feel discusted that blacks now feel they are stronger than skinheads !!! WE NEED THEM BACK !!! AND FAST !!!!!!!!!!! Posted on Apr 08 2007 19:12

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jay said...

when combo n milk were sat in he room getting high..does anybody know the song that was playingin the background?cheers Posted on Apr 08 2007 17:42

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Lex Angel said...

You have no idea what you are talking about. I'm still a Skinhead after 18 years, and am not a racist. I dress in the original 60s style and listen to original Skinhead music - reggae and ska. My girlfriend is mixed race Jamaican/white. Not very racist is it? You need to do some homework before you make sweeping generalisations. Try Daniel Schweizer's documentary, Skinhead Attitude, or the channel 4 documentary World of Skinhead. Both give a balanced view. Posted on Apr 05 2007 02:19

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linzi said...

i agree with everything that laura and vicky said i watched the film and was deeply disturbed and sickened by it that ???? guy is out of order we dnt need skins back at all ur just a bunch of racist thugs who think you own and rule britain well guess what you dont why dont us non racists get a chance say what we want. i reckon every copy of this film should b burnt its a load of trash just like most white men and they wonder why they white women dont show any interest in you anymore losers Posted on Mar 31 2007 22:02

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martin wells said...

i hope this film doesnt portray every skinhead a racist like so many others. Posted on Mar 29 2007 20:17

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???? said...

I dowloaded a torrent of it , its good :)
we need skins back...not thick headed nazi poser boys...just the original skinheads Posted on Mar 28 2007 21:01

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Blame said...

skins all the way i say! Posted on Mar 27 2007 16:36

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DAVE said...

I am a former Skinhead from a well documented gang in England. I have watched the film and enjoyed it very much but it deals too much with the psychological side of the characters and consequently I fear is too deep for most people to be comfortable with. I would like to see Nick Love make a Skinhead movie in the style of Football Factory based on London Skins and around the Oi music scene. Posted on Mar 25 2007 12:24

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Vicky n Laura said...

Worst film we've ever seen...it just goes to show how shallow people are in this country....no1 can accept the fact that we are all the same and times change....judging sumone on thier colour n puttin it in a movie justifys wat england is really like...people go through this everyday and have to deal with racism ...the people in the NF are only jealous because it isnt about taking jobs nemore its about "taking our women" who says that us white women belong to you white men we say you should take ur head from up your own arse look around and see what youre doing to others....playground bullying u need to grow up jus becuz u dont get ur own way no mre face it u cant kick out british pakistanis, black, indian chinese, polish etc we hate racist people you should all burn in hell!!!!! This portrays this in this film.... if they were born ere they r british n da NF cant do fuck all about it so u all shud jus get use 2 it .... : ) Posted on Mar 24 2007 14:01

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sorbit said...

dis film is class it shows what england needs Posted on Mar 19 2007 08:57

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Noble Locks. said...

Most harrowing film ive seen since 'Nil By Mouth'...Gone straight into my top 5 all time great movies. So well observed, anyone who is in their 30's early 40's and grown up in working class England will be utterly compelled... Congrats to everyone involved. Posted on Mar 17 2007 11:20

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realtreat said...

This Film is brilliant awesome director.dead mans shoes is also a very good film. i give this film and 9 out of 10 Posted on Mar 17 2007 02:32

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