The following movie was screened at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival.
This Is England
Spotlight, Narrative
2006, U.K.
Dir: Shane Meadows
An unlikely band of brothers comes to grips with the crisis ravaging their beloved homeland in This Is England. The film centers on a lonely outsider that goes by the name of Shaun. Shaun gets picked on constantly at school and has no friends to play with. One day, he runs into a group of skinheads. But not to worry, these are friendly skinheads. The head of the bunch, Woody, takes him under his wing and protects him with unexpected authority.
The film takes place during the Margaret Thatcher days of a conservative England going through several peaks and valleys, with more valleys than not. The economy was in a slump. The Falklands War was raging on; it was seen as a totally unnecessary conflict. The youth was jaded and confused, turning to rebellion to counter the shackles their society was placing on them. The Punk Revolution was still in full force, and a swelling tide of radical nationalism was washing over the country at an alarming rate.
With a washed out background and a bleak environment, the boys unite and form their own special bond. Shaun is transformed into a skinhead; he has found a family to call his own. The film has a natural tone to it, despite the numerous amounts of musical montages to try and capture the feel of the times. This natural tone works for the most part, until the evil skinhead Combo enters the picture. The characters were slightly unbelievable throughout the film, but when Combo arrives, there is a total lack of credibility from each of the characters in the film.
From the beginning, its pretty hard to swallow that a group of skinheads would be a friendly group of teens, taking in a kid because they felt sorry for him, acting like an after school program for him, and then going off and frolicking around their destitute neighborhood like happy schoolchildren. But again, the story was able to maintain a natural tone to it that made one overlook such deficiencies. However, with the arrival of Combo, the racist neo-Nazi who comes back to town, fresh from the penitentiary, with plans of his own to convert the boys into his disciples, this natural tone is shattered. Here the story takes a turn for the worse, as even more unnecessary music montages pop up just to fill up some time, making the film drag on more than it needed to.
The characters make choices that do not make any sense whatsoever and enter improbable situations. The dialogue digresses into a barrage of cockney vulgarity, but it feels totally tactless and insincere. The filmmakers try to give some dimension to Combo, played by Stephen Graham from Snatch (2000) and Gangs of New York (2002), but it is to no avail. There is no point in understanding the inner turmoil of such a retched and foul character, especially if it adds nothing to the film in its entirety.
Sounded like a good idea but was poorly executed.
/Film Rating: 3 out of 10
May 7th, 2007 at 2:23 am
I’m guessing your note English, and didn’t experience the 80’s in England. Some of your criticisms are borderline laughable. It’s little suprise that people outside the UK would find the film difficult to relate to, but I didn’t expect
You make many criticisms, yet don’t justiy them.
For example:
“The characters make choices that do not make any sense whatsoever and enter improbable situations.”
Bit vague isn’t it?
May 7th, 2007 at 2:27 am
I’m guessing your note English, and didn’t experience the 80’s in England. Some of your criticisms are borderline laughable. It’s little suprise that people outside the UK would find the film difficult to relate to, but I didn’t expect it to be misunderstood. You seem to think all skinheads were hooligans, seemingly overlooking that they were a cultural movements, much like goths, mods and rockers.
You make many criticisms, yet don’t justiy them.
For example:
“The characters make choices that do not make any sense whatsoever and enter improbable situations.”
Bit vague isn’t it? If you’d done any research, you know that this story is based on Shane Meadows own childhood. So for all the ‘unrealism’ you feel the film has, well that completely undermines it.
May 7th, 2007 at 4:46 am
I wholeheartedly disagree with this review, This is England was a good film.
May 7th, 2007 at 5:55 am
**SPOILERS BELOW**
2/10? Please tell me you are joking? This Is England was an excellently written, directed and performed movie. The Skinheads portrayed in this movie aren’t the most common kind people refer to when talking about skinheads (racist thugs) the original skinheads were just a fashion statement and not the racist thugs they are now hence the dark member only getting killed at the end by the guy who was released from prison who was the first batch of what was to become skinheads today.
Being American would NOT help you understand this movie better its a terrifingly accurate portrayal of England in the 80s. That kid deserved an Oscar for his performance and it was his first movie too.
May 8th, 2007 at 2:09 am
This has to be one of the most laughable reviews I have ever read. The film is one of the finest out of the UK this decade, and is nearer to 10/10 than 3/10. Considering the plastic acting that comes out of most of Hollywank these days, it is an utter joke to call the acting in this insincere. In fact offhand I don’t think I have seen a more ‘real’ film ever.
May 8th, 2007 at 4:28 am
Also just a quick note for anyone who enjoyed this movie look up Dead Mans Shoes by the same director an absolutley stunning revenge flick with a twist almost as good as Fight Club or Usual Suspects.
IMDB - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0419677/
May 8th, 2007 at 4:29 am
your review is poorly written, i’d give it 1/10
as for this is england, it’s the best film i’ve seen since shane meadows last feaure (dead man’s shoes) and i’d give it 9/10
get a clue!
May 8th, 2007 at 2:16 pm
Seems the consensus is that this reviewer shouldn’t give up his day job. Well, unless reviewing is his day, in which he case he definitely should give it up.
Also, good call on Dead Mans Shoes. A Room For Romeo Brass is also excellent, and worth a watch.
May 8th, 2007 at 4:34 pm
U.S. reviewers misses the whole point shocker.
Sure the awful American History X might sum up US skins and Romper Stomper our Aussie cousins, but they miss the whole point of the country which originated the Skins movement.
Here it was all about working classed lads and lasses adopting black Jamaican
styles, that’s why we were all mad for ska (black), loved bands like the Specials (with black members), and cut our hair sort like the sons of Jamaican immigrants (black too).
It wasn’t until arses like the BM, and NF started to hijack it that any neo-nazi tendencies crept in. Crying shame too.
This is England touched my cropped haired heart, Meadows has hit the nail right on the head. Maybe you had to be there to realise that.
Just like to point out that there’s tons of non-racist skins still around England, listening to the same old tunes and enjoying every moment of it. Oi! Oi!
May 9th, 2007 at 3:57 pm
You guys’ critique of the review isn’t much too brag about either. What are you really saying besides “I was there, there were nice skinheads too”? I’m pretty sure the reviewer knew. Your arguments – you all agree so wholeheartedly, it is embarrassing to see people acting like sheep – are weak, they don’t stop the film from being an unsuccessful piece of social realism. Just because you feel a narcissistic joy when seeing your childhoods on the screen with the music you love, doesn’t mean you’re entitled to bash a review which is pointing out that it didn’t work on film. Oi oi.
May 9th, 2007 at 5:20 pm
Erlend, we are not acting like sheep, we are giving a good film the recognition it deserves. I didn’t even grow up during that period which makes your argument redundant.
All I can deduct from your comment is that you are an American offended by our response to the grossly misguided and uninformed review.
May 9th, 2007 at 10:32 pm
I was a small child at the time presented in the film, too young to get involved in fashions/music/drinking etc. Yet it utterly resonated with me.
It does seem that Americans get extra harsh on UK films for some reason. You’ll swallow up any old piece of cheese that Hollywood gives you, yet we produce something like this and you still bash it.
May 10th, 2007 at 12:42 am
Just for the record: I’m Norwegian.
May 10th, 2007 at 1:42 am
Erlend, like the two other posters I was too young at the time also to remember that period. So as has been stated, your argument is indeed redundant.
“You guys’ critique of the review isn’t much too brag about either”
No-one is bragging!
The fact of the matter, is that the reviewer is just plain wrong. There’s nothing constructive about any of their comments, and as has been stated, they are incredibly misinformed. Their lack of knowledge about the period they are talking about absolutely shines through.
But to be honest, you completely undermine everything you say by noting that because a few people agree on something, it makes them like sheep. I’ve not read a more ridiculous comment on the Internet all day, and I go on AICN!
May 14th, 2007 at 3:37 am
One would have to know about life in England and Europe in general to understand this movie. Skinheads are everywhere, racist and non-racist. Some are very good people, some not. Perhaps this movie will show that all Skinheads are not bad people.
June 23rd, 2007 at 8:07 pm
I thought the movie was good but the sound track was off, two-tone was dead in 83 and they didn’t have any oi or RAC(skrewdriver and ovaltinees were big in 83′). I also felt that skinheads really wouldn’t listen to toots and the maytails and that praise the Jah song even when they listened moslty to ska and two-tone.
September 23rd, 2007 at 5:05 pm
Terrible review. This was a great film.
You doubt that any skinheads could have been nice characters. However, the roots of the skin culture came from racial union, and an embrace of other cultures. The movement changed in its later years.
So many things about this review make me angry. You clearly are not English, and do not understand this film, otherwise you wouldn’t have called the characters Cockney. They are from Nottingham/Grimsby.
You criticise the musical montages in the film, yet skinhead culture was originally based on Ska and Reggae, exactly the music on the soundtrack to this film. I’m sure many a skinhead walked around their depressing, grey towns with Toots & The Maytals in their heads.
And you even go as far as to criticise Stephen Graham (Combo). His performance is incredible.
If you’re going to write reviews, do your research.
Review Rating: 3 out of 10
November 7th, 2007 at 2:11 am
I really don’t understand what this reviewer was talking about. I found all the characters really believable, why shouldn’t some skinheads be nice? Stephen Graham was just amazing and I found the whole thing incredibly moving even though I’m too young to remember the 80’s.
June 2nd, 2008 at 2:57 pm
I check /film every hour or two and love it but how can you give this review. This movie is very good. Rewatch it. The music is great along with the scenes and how you can fault the acting is beyond me.
June 2nd, 2008 at 4:10 pm
I really enjoyed the film and related to the theme having been brought up in that era. I get the impression that a lot of the scenes included a lot of improvisation and although this generally worked sometimes made the acting look questionable. As as for Milky ditching his girlfriend to go for a smoke with the racist Combo? YES THAT IS IMPROBABLE!