Somers Town (2008)

I truly do not understand why this film is being raved about. The story had no absolutely base at all; still I have no idea about what it was about. What the film was trying to say is also shrouded in mystery to me. Youth, underclass, immigration, urban deprivation? These were all possible themes, yet none were explored; not even was there a hint at their exploration. In bleak contrast to the director's last film, This Is England, Somers Town has none of its depth, subtlety and emotion. Some parts of the film even seemed desperate in their attempts to give the film any direction whatsoever. The scene in the wheelchair is particularly memorable, where the two young protagonists push a beautiful french girl to her house after work. The some reason the director tries to make the scene profound and important by having some pretty bland indie music and slow-mo shots of the three smiling and laughing at the local tower blocks, for no reason the I or any of the people I went with could discern. We really did not know where to look it was so embarrassing.

Fmovies: I have to confess that I love all of the films made by Shane Meadows. In some ways Somers Town is a bit of a departure for Meadows as it is nowhere near as gritty as some of his previous work. Having said that there are still a couple of scenes that will get you squirming uncomfortably.

The film is an insight into the unlikely friendship between Tomo and Merek. The two leads put in great performances considering their age and Turgoose looks a sure fire bet to be a leading actor for a long time to come. The performance of Perry Benson as Graham is also fantastic and all the characters in the film are very true to life.

The film is in black and white apart from the last couple of minutes and at 75 minutes is extremely short for a feature. At times very funny it is certainly poignant and thoroughly enjoyable. If you miss it at the cinema make sure you catch it when it's on the small screen. It certainly will not lose too much in the transition.

Somers Town is a typical example of an indie film made for the sake of being indie; it's distilled, slow moving and at times poignantly moving in as much of an anti-melodramatic manner as possible, yet it's also blatantly empty, pointless and more often than not, unremarkable. Coming off of his critically acclaimed This Is England, director Shane Meadows here crafts a mostly pedestrian feature that doesn't quite understand the distinction between meditative and sleepy. Sure enough it can be an amusing seventy minutes, with some nice scenes between two very capable actors who play natural characters, but as a whole, these sets of ideas never really mesh into one coherent piece of work. Being more likely to induce drowsiness rather than enlightenment, Somers Town, much like it's closing sequence, is like watching someone's holiday photos as they prattle on about their mundane day over each slide; at times there will be something interesting to be heard, but it just never seems to justify taking the time to do so. This is a shame because deep within the movie, there is definite heart and some strong themes, yet smothered by countless scenes of uninteresting, minute details, this follow up to Meadows' previous success feels more like a forgettable intermission rather than a whole, solid production.

Set in modern day London, around the construction of the Channel train system, Somers Town tells the tale of two teenage boys as they slowly find their way into their new and unfamiliar setting. Tomo (Thomas Turgoose) is from the East-Midlands of England, and having "nothing" back home (this is all that is revealed) has ventured to London to try and make something of himself; he doesn't know what he's going to do, but it seems he doesn't have much choice either way. Marek (Piotr Jagiello) is from Poland, having moved with his father to England after his parents break-up back home. Eventually both characters meet, and through their mutual alienation of being away from home and having nothing to do, they form a friendship. What follows from here is a whimsy, but deeply grounded tale that attempts to document the coming of age of two young lads as they come to terms with their new surroundings, and their new partnership. It can be sweet and fun to watch as the boys run mischief and share their conflicting ideas on topics such as food and women, yet much of this is saved for the remaining second half of the feature. The first half is notably dim, and although has its moments, feels more like an overlong introduction.

Shot in monochrome, the film takes on a style that is reminiscent of this year's In Search of a Midnight Kiss in its romanticism of an otherwise dreary, worn down city. This side of London isn't pretty, as Tomo finds out early on when he's brutally mugged, and so the photography does well to echo the film's more ambitious, arty nuances used to portray the gritty, down to earth side of the story. One thing that it complements really well however, and not to positive effect, is the film's minimalist nature; the black and white does well to bring to the life the film's greatest, most poignant sequences, yet the filling between these areas becomes a lot less interesting to watch as a result. This was a problem in the aforementioned film also, but being that Somers Town is dramatically shorter winded, the less successful moments don't hinder the film's romanticism of realism to irreversible effect. The soundtrack is just as bare, and features the

Somers Town fmovies. Short, compact, yet rich with satisfaction: this film encompassing some beautiful moments to take with you and treasure. Shot in black & white, this film scores for being simple, yet moving, deep and unique.

In a world of blockbusters and 2 hour feature films, this short, simple indie film came as a welcome relief. It was 'bite-sized' if you can attribute that phrase. In other words digestible: it had a pleasantly warming message of friendship and the beauty of human emotions. Therefore perfect to consume on a quiet sunny afternoon.

By not being too long, this film does not loose out in being concise, it feels like every short scene is of real value to the story. This creates a pleasant pace and means the audience is kept enticed and captivated. Interwoven in this storyline and despite its brief nature, Meadows is still able to weave in thought-provoking shots and sequences to really underline the nature of social study.

Overall it is indeed a little gem, not to be left to gather dust on the shelf. Its one of those movies you could watch on a typical afternoon in the house to give you a satisfying feeling of wholeness.

Very impressive: 83/100

Though clearly a bit of a "quickie" project made in the immediate afterglow of This Is England - and featuring that film's young star Thomas Turgoose in one of the two main roles - the DV-shot, (mainly) black-and-white, minimal-budgeted 'Somers Town' is by no means a "minor" Meadows. Indeed, in terms of tonal consistency, concision and cumulative emotional wallop, it's in several ways a more satisfying enterprise than its bigger, BAFTA-winning "brother". Indeed (again), there have been very few more moving films from any director since Meadows' own Dead Man's Shoes (2004) - though in this instance it's very much a case of joyful rather than sorrowful tears. This is a delightful, quietly topical, deceptively slight miniature about teenage friendship and first love - scarcely new subjects for cinema, but handled with sufficient sensitivity, humour and spirit to emphatically justify such a choice of material. Meadows and his scriptwriter Paul Fraser, meanwhile, deserve particular credit for so deftly maintaining such a delicate balance between the bouncily engaging story and its sad, even tragic subtexts.

Shane Meadows' beautiful snapshot of life for two teenagers in North London, "Somers Town", is a million miles away from "This is England" in tone, but has no less class or brilliance about it. Filmed in wonderful black and white, this is a delightful, entertaining and involving piece about youth, culture and friendship.

The power of Meadows's film-making is in his characters. Something rings fundamentally true about the people that he brings to the screen, and the writing of Paul Fraser (a long time Meadows-collaborator) is a great help to this film. The dialogue is humorous, moving and insightful, which gets the audience utterly involved in this film. Added to this, the acting is wonderful. Thomas Turgoose, who was spectacular in "This is England", continues to be an impressive and interesting screen presence. He is ably supported, not just by Piotr Jagiello, who plays the Polish teenager Marek, but by the rest of the small, but perfectly formed, ensemble.

This film is not just an entertaining and moving piece, but is also a beautiful film with a dash of severity. There is a particularly emotive and thought-provoking scene where the immigrant father and son talk to each other. Britain's debates on immigration often ignore the individuals involved in the issues, and that scene cuts right to an unexplored area of the matter.

The beauty of the film is not just in its emotions and characters, but also in its photography. Monochrome is a form of cinematography which lends itself to beauty, but Meadows exploits this magnificently. There is a change to colour during the film which could have been crass but is in fact wonderful. The images are also accompanied by a beautiful series of songs which give the film real character. All of these elements come to fore in a number of dialogue-less sequences.

Meadows has created a lovely piece of cinema. Short though it is, that is part of its charm. It is not extraneous or self-indulgent. It is what it is: a simple joy to be delighted in by many.