The Bad : THIS IS ENGLAND - Shane Meadows

This is England, 2007

Directed by Shane Meadows

Nationality : British

Box Office (France) : 166735 spectators 

Prices : Jury’s Price, Cannes 1993

This is England takes place in 1983. It is the story about a boy, Shaun, 12 years old whom you can see in the background of this blog. He lives with his mum, as his father died in Falklands War. He is lonely, but eventually, he meets Woody and his bunch of friends, all skinheads, and  then hangs out with them. 

(Meeting with Woody : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaGgk7A_-2k)

He then enjoys the world of parties, alcohol, smoking, dating...Everything is fine until Combo who used to be a member of the band, comes out of prison. Older an d most of all racist, he splits the group in two. Shaun follows him as he managed to brainwash the little boy, after a speech about the war in which his father died "for nothing" he says. And I shall stop here as I don't want to spoil the end for the people who haven't seen it yet.

There is a certain atmosphere in the movie that I love, it makes you very anxious as you’re feeling and fearing something bad is going to happen, and it usually does.

I like this movie because it shows another side of skinheads. Being a skinhead used to be a way of dressing, it was also related to the music they were listening to (ska, soul), and most importantly, they did not claim to have a certain political view. The movie is actually partially autobiographical, Shane Meadows became a skinhead himself when he was 12.

Later on, when the movement became worldwide, the skinhead trend changed, and are now considered as part of the “extrême droite” activists. And this is what Combo embodies in the film.

Once again, quite a subject, which, by telling this particular story about a boy, shows the atmosphere in some parts of England after the Falklands war and also under Margaret Thatcher’s mandate as Prime Minister, England empovorished by her and with a high rate of unemployment, and some of the reactions it caused (racism, nationalism…).

(parenthesis)

Thomas Turgoose, the actor who interprets Shaun is breath-taking. He is amazing, touching … The movie is dedicated to his mother, Sharon Turgoose, who died in 2006. I thought that the scene he cries about his dad's death in the film,  saying he misses him is even more touching knowing that and makes his performance even more impressive, for a twelve-year-old without any experience in acting

For the love of art...and of series :

For the ones who love Shane Meadows’ work, and particularly This is England, you will be happy to know he made a sequel to his movie. Same characters, same esthetic, but with a plot enlarged to all the different characters. It’s a « short series » and at the moment there is « This is England 86 », which happens 4 years after the film, and “This is England 88”, two more years after that and “This is England 90” should be ready by the end of the year or in 2013. The music is also very good, as you can see in the titles of the first episode :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trR4hb9PGcY

I personnaly love them, but there are pretty tough so don’t watch them alone… Enjoy !