This Is England Poster

This Is England (2006)

Crime  
Rayting:   7.7/10 116.1K votes
Country: UK
Language: English
Release date: 27 April 2007

A young boy becomes friends with a gang of skinheads. Friends soon become like family, and relationships will be pushed to the very limit.

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elpellofa 9 November 2006

Seen at: BFI - London Film Festival Shane Medows take on pro-Nazi minority groups comes at a time where racist extremism is uncannily blurred itself out of the picture. Although we are familiar with the non less aesthetic fear to terrorist attacks by fundamentalist Muslim groups, we have somehow forgot the 'collateral' damage that could arise in the eve of a Paris-suburb-style racial riot.

This is England perpetuates a picture of a country not far from the one we are overlooking now but puts aside the blossoming images sold to the outside world of a hectic and prosperous London and a gay Brighton. The film takes us back to the Thatcher years in a clearly accentuated north of England ridden by jobless youth and financially stretch families, encapsulating a small landscape of issues that stirred the nation under the "Iron Lady's rule".

Medows takes us in what could be described as the "deep England journey". North of the black underground line lay other counties where unemployment and lack of cultural resources are becoming predecessors for extremist thoughts. Social tensions are on the rise, and a new radical party, The National Front is taking advantage of the situation by blending anger and national pride, rallying people around the country.

Matching the style of Mathieu Kassovitz (also director and writer) in La Haine, historical footage of the époque is embedded in between frames to illustrate the social expression of society. Furthermore, Danny Cohen's photography beautifully sets the landscape for the characters to take centre stage.

The storyline evolves around a social micro-cosmos. The characters represent the blue print of residual society, perpetuated in the form of Shaun (Thomas Turgoose). At a very young age, Shaun has already endured the loose of his father at the Falklands War as well as facing financial hardship. He stands daily bulling from school peers, which brings him to state of outcast.

He then becomes approached by an urban tribe of Ska-mod skin-heads. The group takes him under its wing as if a sort of mascot, although Shaun quickly becomes a strong character within the group, thanks to his stand up attitude. The group is soon divided by the return of old gang member Combo (Steven Graham) after a brief term in prison. Combo represents the pro-Nazi skinheads versus the fun loving petty vandalism of the Ska music and mod style teenagers.

Steven Graham work deserves a standing ovation, far away of easy slapstick pop-corn performance he produced in Snatch (Guy Ritchie). Nevertheless his impressive characterisation of Combo is somehow overshadowed by Thomas Turgoose first ever acting role. Although presented at a later stage in the movie as the anti hero, it is impossible not to feel for his profound facial expression and sympathise with his early age portrayal of innocence.

Despite all round notable performances from the rest of the cast, I feel terribly let down by Jo Hartley's mediocre interpretation as Shaun's mother; however this can be considered a minor decay to an all round great piece of contemporary art.

This is England crosses the boundary of the purely British audience oriented motion picture to a larger scale scenario where its intricacies are presented in manners which well enable the international audience to get a small picture of a bigger problem.

In a world that tries to trade our eyes for feelings by diverting our attention to the big picture, such as United 93, it might be o

LordE 5 November 2006

Fmovies: I wouldn't normally bother inflicting my opinion on others via this database. However, I felt compelled to re-iterate all the positive reviews and comments I've seen here and elsewhere for this truly wonderful film.

I was lucky enough to be given a free ticket for the BFI Festival viewing last Tuesday. A wonderful woman (now known as Lily) collared me in the queue for tickets and generously offered me a spare.

We sat down and I knew things were looking good when the cast were introduced but eschewed the usual Q&A session by quickly introducing themselves and asking us to simply enjoy the film adding that if anyone had any questions at the end they'd be milling around for a chat.

Anyway, enough of the preamble, to the film - it's an exemplary piece of work beautifully encapsulating the feelings of the eighties. The avarice of that time (both political and economic) juxtaposed against the heightened sense of revolt against a Thatcherite government that truly didn't seem to give a toss about anyone who wasn't on the gravy train.

The script is razor sharp and the acting excellent! I'm not going to waste your time reviewing it but I will say, please go and see it for yourself (especially if you were growing up during the eighties)...

You'll be rewarded with a superb soundtrack, laughter, sadness and at times real, palpable, tension.

Love & Rockets, Lord E.

stensson 19 August 2007

The skinhead culture fascinates many directors and it's understandable. It's one of the few remaining subcultures in the West, much because of the Nazi connections.

But the skins in this movie aren't political and no racists to start with. One of the gang members is even black. They live in a happy community in the early 80s, having fun and being together in a totally grey unfriendly working class environment. It's very hopeful and the 12-year-old finds himself accepted for the first time in his life. His longing for the dead father of the Falklands war is somewhat replaced.

But darkness arrives with the skin veteran who comes back from jail. And there are conflicts between the racist fraction and the others. But whatever this is, it's not black and white. The characters are much more complicated.

Much has been said about young Thomas Turgoose as the 12-year-old. He's very good but the great portrait is by Stephen Graham as the old/new gang leader. Absolutely brilliant work.

garynorton 30 April 2007

This Is England fmovies. A snippet of life in 1983- told through the eyes of an impressionable 12 year old-against the back-drop of the Falklands War.

This film shows Director Shane Meadows at his best, a new generation Mike Leigh/Ken Loach. Gritty, ultra-real story telling (not least because it reflects time and events from Meadows own childhood.

From the outside this movie might look like an all out "Doom and Gloom" exercise (akin to Nil By Mouth?), but it is so much more! It has a great sense of love and nostalgia for the time and place-not too mention the Skinhead culture. However, it also shows how the initially innocent fashion trend of the Skinhead- which came from the "Mods" and "Ska" music scene- was twisted and subverted by a racist element from within. Fashioning a striking look (near bald heads with imposing Dr Martin boots) a perfect foil for those wanting to make a clear impression of aggression for the National Front.

Performances are great- Turgoose as the young fatherless lonely boy- searching for someone to lead the way. Special mention to Stephen Graham as the aggressive, neo-Nazi, Combo. He is a horribly violent man, but played with such depth by Graham, you can see he has his own issues which have destroyed him. Ultimately, he is the saddest and most tragic of all the characters in it.Graham's is an Oscar/Bafta performance if ever there was one! Summary- A brilliant slice of life from the 80's reconstructed with love , affection, humour and a dash of "Venom"- eat your heart out "Spideyman"!

antplate 2 November 2006

'This is England' is a must see for the type of persons who enjoy a good old 'innocence of youth' narrative (including a very comedic, almost cringe inducing, 'first kiss' scene) layered with powerful retrospective British realism reflecting early 1980's societal issues of the type that you wont see on any saccharin dipped 'i remember 1982' clip show.

Based largely around the 'skinhead' activities of the early eighties its interesting to note that the story really draws distinctions between the types of skinheads - the nazi/racist and the two-tone/soul loving skinheads.

Much like Mr Meadows other outings which tend to include a lot of relatively unknown and TV only actors/actresses, they all throw in sterling performances, particularly Stephen 'snatch' Graham as 'Combo'(sp.?) and the unknown Thomas Turgoose as young 'Sean'(sp?).

The soundtrack is as usual strategically lined up to help convey with the overall look and feel, with musical styles ranging from reggae (toots and the maytals), punk and two tone. It does however include new music presumably for a soundtrack album sales point of view, what with the most underrated Clayhill covering The Smiths(?).

overall: its as retrospective sharp as it is thought provoking, so if you lived anywhere near this time then see it: you may just like it. I you didn't then learn from this time in history when skin heads were either very open minded or very closed minded.

come2whereimfrom 2 December 2006

After the success of 'Dead Man's Shoes' local filmmaker Shane Meadows returns with 'This is England' a story of absence and isolation, belonging and the power of persuasion. Set in 1983 with a backdrop of the war in the Falklands the film opens with a montage of relevant images everything from Maggie Thatcher to Knight Rider that really take you back and put you in the right space to meet Shaun. Shaun the films central character (played superbly by newcomer Thomas Turgoose) is a typical eighties kid, riding round on his griffter, washing neighbours cars for cash to buy a catapult and being constantly picked on for being different. When we first meet him we quickly learn that his father was a victim of the war raging at Maggie's command. Enter the gang Woody, Milky, Pukey, et all, a rag tag bunch of mods and skinheads complete with crimped haired girlfriends, with the absence of his father and any real sense of being part of something Shaun is quickly welcomed into the group and takes up not just the mannerisms or clothes but drinking, smoking and growing up to quickly. Things go OK for a while until Combo arrives on the scene. Straight out of prison and a British blooded skinhead through to his core you can sense trouble on the horizon. Soon the gang becomes segmented because of differences of opinion and fuelled by the war and the council estate mentality of accepting foreigners' things start to spiral out of control and Shaun finds himself in way above his head. A brilliantly written script that can at times have you laughing out loud and at others sitting nervously on the edge of your seat as the tension builds is delivered well by all the cast. The music is fitting, mixing eighties chart hits with haunting piano pieces and the cinematography is close to a previous Meadows outing 'A Room for Romeo Brass' which gives it a feel like it was filmed in the eighties. The attention to detail is brilliant as shop shelves are laden with products we no longer see or have long since upgraded there packaging. One of the scariest things was it was hard to imagine that time in this country because any of us who lived through it have almost chosen to block it out completely, but it was done so well and had me fishing in my memory to fit things into the time scale being used. There is defiantly a more matured Meadows at work here but he's lost none of his cheeky charm and observational skill and the characters he's created could have easily have lived next door to me growing up. The metaphor of the country getting behind Thatcher in the Falklands juxtaposed with that of the skinheads, including the initiated Shaun, getting behind the slightly off kilter Combo is handled with a great sense of poignancy and it is moving to see both stories unfold from within the film and library footage. Racism and intolerance are by no means behind us but here we are shown one of the skeletons in the Great British (sic) closet through the eyes of a child and one who would grow up to represent the next generation. Meadows has said in interviews that it is partly based on his experiences growing up and he sees a lot of himself in Shaun, I saw a lot of me in the character but I also saw memories I'd have rather forgotten. Funny, British and bleak Meadows is slowly climbing the ranks to join the Mike Leigh's and Ken Loach's of this world and if this film is anything to go by it wont take him very long. Any fan of Meadows previous work will love it and no doubt delight in his continuing growth as a filmmaker but ev

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