This Is England

A far more powerful movie than anticipated, "This Is England" takes the 1980's in Britain and filters it through the eyes of an easily-led 12 year old boy, and produces a visceral, jarring view of the decade, creating one of the best contemporary British films.

Sean (Turgoose) has lost his dad in the Falklands War, and without a father figure he starts to fight back at the treatment he gets at school from others. One day, meeting a group of skinheads (harmless ones) and ska lovers, he becomes part of a group, and feels wanted. When the group’s older members reappear however, the impressionable young kid is sucked into the racist and thuggish side of the fad, and realises all too late that the father figure he thought he found in hard-nut Thommo (Graham) is not the one he should have.

The standout performances come from Thomas Turgoose (Sean) and Stephen Grahame (Thommo); it's hard to believe a child actor can be THIS good, especially with no experience of acting beforehand. The portrayal of Sean is fantastic; sorrowful, brash and more than equal to anyone twice his age, Turgoose presents himself as a talent that should not be lost or exploited. Thommo is a horrific, menacing character, and Stephen Graham's performance is chilling to behold, particularly as many of the other characters whom Sean looks up to throughout are so harmless in contrast. Every English person has met someone like Thommo, and that hits it home: this thug exists throughout the country, and the execution on-screen of his racist views are all too painful a reminder of the latent horror beneath the surface of the working class here still.

The film is firmly rooted in its '80's setting, and it feels more deep and meaningful than its 90 minutes running time. Shane Meadows (who also directed “Dead Man’s Shoes”) channels a lot of his own experiences of the '80's into Sean, and it shows, with the impressionable little kid the sympathetic centre of the movie as well as the eyes through which everything is presented, harmful or not. The film is fantastically directed and constructed simply because Meadows is drawing from his life, and the passion and emotions manifest through the film's personal and touching moments.

The 80’s era music, as well as the references to Thatcher and the Falklands War, hammer home to the viewer how they should view the film, the opening credits in particular presenting archive footage of the war, as well as riots, marches and strikes that plagued the country during Thatcher’s rule. The dialogue reflects this as well, and the disturbingly racist ideologues spouted from Thommo toward the end are chilling to hear in light of the large amount of racism that existed then. All in all, the film’s production presents to the viewer the situation during the decade, and reminds us that even twenty years ago the country was below the standards of acceptance and quality of life that it is now.

This film should be seen by English people, perhaps as many as possible; it paints a period of recent British history that has not been tackled too much in film, and a decade in which many of us were born is forgotten for its negatives and remembered for its music and popular culture. This is a must-see movie for any person who feels strongly about how the country has gone through the last twenty years, and where it might end up twenty-years’ hence.

10/10