This Is England

This Is England_360P

'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.

The mood of this movie is pretty good and it captures the feel of the 80's well with some good performances. However..... The script is run of the mill with the exception of a couple of comedic moments and comes off as being weird where I expect it was intended to be edgy. The characters are totally over dramatized and unbelievable and full of right wing clichés that the script writer probably saw watching a panorama documentary on the national front. The biggest problem is this movie has no real story. It ticks all the right "arty" boxes but nothing actually happens and at the end you are left wondering what the point was. Very disappointing

What can I say, I lived in England from 1982 to 1984, and England was not like this. Lame story, bad acting, the Skinhead characters came across as total W4nkers that you wouldn't want to know in real life. Overall the movie is a dud, not recommended. The scene where the 12 year old hero has a French Kissing festival with the 18 year old "Smell" I found very indecent. I found the social topic about racism within the Skinhead subculture to be a yawn. I cannot for the life of me understand that a movie, which trumpets itself as what England was like in 1983, failed to even mention the Irish Republican Armys Rampage in Englands cities at that time! From what I remember everyone in Britain bemoaned the IRA's campaign of terror, including this subject would of made a much better movie. Don't bother paying the rental fee for this movie.

I watched this film last night with anticipation, but really wasn't very impressed. With the exception of 'Combo', I thought the acting was poor and the narrative was limited. It came across like a 'made for TV' drama. I felt that the film was very contrived. The whole set up of hammering in the context at the start (yes, we get that this is 80s Britain - you can stop now) was tiresome, and gave a very one-sided view of what life was like in 80s Britain - poverty, war juxtaposed with royalty, Margaret Thatcher, yet nothing in between? There were actually middle-classes who existed back then - just ordinary working people, with a decent wage and a mortgage. The Falklands clips also seemed to be added randomly towards the end, for 'dramatic effect', I presume. The sequence of events felt a tad disjointed, as the characters moved one one action to the next without us seeing how their mindset could've changed so quickly. The relationship between 'Shaun' and 'Smell' was toe-curling. I couldn't even look during the snogging scene. I find it very hard to believe that she would've been attracted to a boy who was not only so much younger, but also looked so much younger. I know there were only four years between them, but four years is nothing once you reach your twenties, yet it's a huge difference in your teens! In my experience, that kind of teen age difference only occurs when the girl is the younger one, since girls mature so much quicker, and are more on the wavelength of boys a few years older. Sorry, but I didn't buy it - an unnecessary plot point created for shock value. The ending was somewhat abrupt and, again, contrived. If the flag throwing incident was supposed to be iconic, then it fell somewhat short in my eyes. It bugs me that British films only concern themselves with either the upper classes or the poverty-stricken. Don't get me wrong, I love Trainspotting, and Four Weddings has its charms, but can't we Brits come up with anything different? Why are our films always so hung up on the class system? I was born in 1973, so wasn't much different in age to 'Shaun' would've been in 1983. I grew up in a single parent family on a fairly down-trodden council estate in a city in England. However, my childhood experiences were vastly different to those portrayed in the film - I don't even remember racism being an issue (although i'm not saying it didn't exist). 'This is England'? Not in my experience. The bottom line is that I felt this film lacked substance, and I was completely bored and unimpressed throughout.

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.

source: This Is England

It's been a long time in my celluloid watching life since a real appreciation of a film some three quarters of the way in has subsided to head shaking and disappointment by the closing credits. I can't add any more to the reviews already on here - plot development, narrative, humour, recreation of 80's England and acting (on the whole) are all top drawer. But what sort of ending was that ?? The scene in which Combo (superb performance by the actor by the way) finally succumbed to the demons and prejudice within was fantastic and would have made a worthy finale to the film. Stop it there. No context required. No need to wrap things up. But another 15 mins followed. Firstly I'm not quite sure what the archive clips from the Falklands were trying to achieve - Adding resonance to the story just told ?? by a representation of misguided nationalism ?? or a reflection of the jingoism of the time ?? I'm not sure. The music certainly didn't help - the soaring, emotive classical accompaniment was overly mawkish and just made me feel I was being manipulated into a war is wrong/thatcher was bad standpoint. The film was great no need to increase the scope or make sure we knew it's intentions. Why the need to let us know Milky was OK in the scene with Sean and his mum ? - surely it hits harder not knowing this. But the final scene was so grandiose. Here comes the classical music again and Sean rejects the life he was leading by symbolically throwing the flag into the sea. Terrible, overblown and - dare I say it - 100% Hollywood. It reminded me of the scenes from those 80's cop movies where the grizzled NY cop having cleared his name - or that of his dead buddy - and exposed the bad cops ends the film by casting his badge/commendation into the sea. So yet again the inability to end a film well and avoid MAKING IT REALLY CLEAR HOW YOU SHOULD FEEL really tarnishes the experience as a whole.

I really don't get this film, or why it rates so highly. The acting and directing are just dreadful. Meadows' style seems to be to get a bunch of actors in a room with no script and tell them not to act. The story, such as it is, bears little resemblance to the England I knew in the early 80s. I guess it's just a self-indulgent trip down memory lane for a guy who must have had a seriously screwed-up childhood. There is nothing positive to say about this, and anybody who thinks differently must be deluded. This film is not in any way about England nor is it a piece of art or entertainment. Why anybody outside of Meadows' family would want to watch it is beyond me.

This movie lacks in so many ways. It has no real purpose or meaning. Seemingly dragging on for too long then suddenly cutting short. It gives no real insight into the traditional skin head movement, the Nazi skin movement or the redskin sharp movement. There is allot of reggae but the history of the Jamaican striking skinheads isn't even brought up. The pro racism speech is a failed attempt at recreating the tension in American history X's rant. i was really disappointed with the film half way but decided to finish it in hopes the tables would turn.Heads up they did not.It gives no explanation for the characters views nor their actions. i really don't understand how anyone could enjoy this movie.This film has no action, conflict, intellectual dialogue and spray painting Maggy is a **** on a wall does not make it historically accurate. sigh....