
Two films in as many nights on Sunday and Monday; who needs a film festival for a satisfyingly cinematic time?
Sunday I caught This is England, UK director Shane Meadows' new film about a skinhead gang being infiltrated by the National Front, at Carlton's Cinema Nova. It must be said that I'm not a huge fan of the Nova, having had too many film experiences ruined by poor projection; but on Sunday night, in the company of an Irish ex-bootboy, and a gay Singaporean skinhead, I had no problems whatsover - save for the fuckwit sitting one row in front of me who decided to send someone a text message during the film's climax. Aaarrgh!
This is England focuses on 12 year old Shaun (a superb performance by young Thomas Turgoose), whose father has recently died in the Falklands War. Adopted by a local skinhead gang led by the likeable Woody (Joseph Gilgun), Shaun is caught at the crossroads when the much older Combo (Stephen Graham) appears on the scene. Recently released from jail, the charismatic Combo is a violent racist, and has soon split the gang in two. Shaun, looking for a father-figure, trails along with Combo and his thuggish friends, with tragic results.
This is England is influenced by Meadows' own experiences, and set firmly in the early 80s, prior to which skins were very much a working class youth subculture, not the violent racists they are generally perceived as today. Performances are strong throughout; especially Graham's turn as Combo, which makes us empathise with the character's emotional pain even as his deeds sicken us.
The use of archival footage to set the scene of the depressed English Midlands in 1983 is restrained but effective; as is the use of period music. Cinematography, too, is used to strong advantage to simultaneously convey Combo's dangerous mental state and his very real bond with Shaun, the fatherless boy he's taken under his (broken) wing.
It's a surprisingly endearing and humorous film, as typified by a scene in a greasy cafe where the gang are confronted by Shaun's simultaneously angry and warm mother; but nor does Meadows shy away from the ugly side of his story. Children and threatened and a shop owner is terrorised as Combo's gang spread their racist wings, and the climax, when it comes, is as shocking as it is revelatory. At no point does Meadows resort to stereotypes, and even the minor characters are well-rounded and well played.
It's also worth noting that a touching coda at the conclusion of the film adds a hopeful note, suggesting that Shaun might yet reject the racist indocrination he has received, and find a gentler path in life.
This is England is Meadows' best film to date, and highly recommended.

This simple, strangely satisfying film tells the story of Alex (Alan Rickman), recently released from prison and now traumatised after the death of a young girl in a road accident; and his developing friendship with the dead girl's mother, Linda (Sigourney Weaver), a highly-functioning autistic.
This could have been awful; a sacharine, cloying film; and indeed there were parts of it that I found predictable and trite. That said, it constantly reduced me to tears which never felt the result of being manipulated.
Yes, Weaver's performance as Linda is straight out of the Hollywood guide to playing the mentally disabled; she grimaces and waves her hands in the air with glee, but despite being sometimes heavy-handed she also finds an emotional truth to the character that makes her strangely convincing all the while.
Yes, the film's central concept - the world-weary healed by an encounter with the child-like - borders on the banal. But I still liked it.
Rickman's character is a total misanthrope. "I don't have baggage," he remarks at one point. "I have haulage." His slow thawing (shown literally, in one heavy-handed moment, by a shot of melting ice; an irritating error from director Marc Evans, who at other times uses similarly lyrical moments well) is nonetheless believeable, partially because the character of Linda is never whitewashed; she's not a saint, and together, the two actors work wonderfully together. The score by Canada's Broken Social Scene also goes a long way to making the film work; it never resorts to swelling strings to tug at your heart.
For the most part restrained, yet deeply affecting, Snow Cake had me wiping away tears constantly. Recommended for the less cynical; others will find it cloyingly sentimental, I'm sure, as evidenced by this review in UK paper The Guardian, whose quiet vitriol I couldn't help but enjoy.
THIS IS ENGLAND: Three and a half stars
SNOW CAKE: Three and a half stars
7 comments:
This is England is Meadows' best film to date
I've read this a few times now, but I don't find it any better than TwentyFourSeven starring Bob Hoskins. I liked the film, quite a lot in fact. I wonder if the title is playing on the title of Alan Clarke's darker and superior Made in Britain, featuring just one very scary skinhead, in a career-defining performance by a very young Tim Roth.
I'm about the same age as Meadows, and while my experience is an Australian one, I lived in terror of skinheads until the end of Form 4 (Year 10), by which time they had dropped out of school. It may have been a 'sub-culture', but it was a predatory one. Woody was nicer than any skinhead I ever knew.
I found it had far more emotional resonance than TwentyFourSeven, Paul. While part of that may be because of my personal experiences with skinheads (death threats from neo-Nazis in the late 80s etc) I think the cinematography is considerably more accomplished here, as is the brevity of Meadows' visual narrative (I'm thinking specifically of the scene between Combo and Shaun in the car, as an example, in which the camera focuses so tightly on Combo's eyes).
My own experiences with non-nazi skins have been lovely; but then I was meeting them as equals, rather than being threatened by them in school. Sharpies, on the other hand...
Ha! Off topic, but after not having thought about the Sisters of Mercy for at least 6 or 7 years, I was just listening to a song I accidentally found when I read your aside regarding your introduction to the band. Scary.
Oooh, spooky coincidence! Which song might that have been, though, Mr Dancin'? 'This Corrosion' perhaps, or 'Temple of Love'?
I saw 'This is England' last night. I thought it was very very good - measured, moving, incredibly well acted. Cracking soundtrack as well. I think it does skins the justice they deserve, for I, like you RW, have met the loveliest of skins in my time - and I'm not 100% anglo either. It makes Romper Stomper look like the pile of unsubtle dog turds (well, turds usually are unsubtle I guess) it is.
PM, Shane Meadows is actually my age, which puts him about a decade behind you. Perhaps we youngsters have a rose-tinted view of the whole 80s skin subculture, not to mention the decade itself - or perhaps you've just met some shonky skins. I agree it's not quite his best film though - Room for Romeo Brass takes that mantle for my money.
Snow Cake had me wiping away years constantly
How revivifying! ;) Now if that doesn’t sell a film i don’t know what would.
What I’d heard about Snow Cake hadn’t impressed that much, but This is England was on my list , for what that’s worth. I mean The Lives of Others is still on my list...
Typo corrected, smartypants. ;-P
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