This is England

[john]

Going to the Pictures this weekend?

http://www.themoviebox.net/movies/2006/STUVWXYZ/This-is-England/trailer.php

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ny1a7JLdh04

Rat, Margaret Thatcher; Rubik's Cubes, the Royal Wedding; aerobics, skinheads... It's 1983, and the schools are breaking up for summer. Shaun is 12 and a bit of a loner, growing up with his mum in a grim coastal town, his dad killed fighting in the Falklands War. On his way home from school where he's been tormented all day for wearing flares, he runs into a group of skinheads, who against expectations turn out to be friendly and take him under their wing. Soon Shaun discovers parties, girls and snappy dressing, and finds some role models in Woody, Milky and the rest of the gang. But when an older, overtly racist skinhead returns home from prison, the easy camaraderie of the group is broken, and Shaun is drawn into much more uncomfortable territory. Based largely on his own experience as a youngster, this is Shane Meadows' most mature and fully realised film. Handling the complexities of masculinity, violence and race with sensitivity and a lightness of touch, it's hard to imagine a film that would better capture the mood of the time, or that could have any greater an understanding of the allure of being part of a gang.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0480025/plotsummary

[marie]

Sorry, but the first link say: Not found. The second link its ok. Maybe its for my computer, but I am not sure...

[Shapers]

That looks a really good film dosen't it John. I will see it in the pictures

[john]

Got good reviews and has a brilliant soundtrack

http://www.amazon.co.uk/This-England-Original-Soundtrack/dp/tracks/B000OCXF56/ref=dp_tracks_all_1/202-0883765-5262252?ie=UTF8&qid=1177695130&sr=8-1#disc_1

[Kev]

^^Thanks^^ :handclap:

[Walden]

Looks like a good film Mark Kermode on the BBC Culture Show raved about it. Here's another review (http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2007/04/23/this_is_england_2007_review.shtml) and more from the imdb (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0480025/).

[john]

Its being compared to a modern day Kes.

[theninesisters]

Kes was a fantastic film and I don't think you could ever better it - only because of the desperation of the hard times he faced in a time where money was scarce.

Never have I laughed so much at the football scene!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvVOk_ylH8w

Has to be the best dive ever :PDT_Aliboronz_24:

[theninesisters]

And again:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUcPPNprn-k

[john]

Brilliant clips of Kes

[john]

Kes was a fantastic film and I don't think you could ever better it - only because of the desperation of the hard times he faced in a time where money was scarce.

Never have I laughed so much at the football scene! :

Totally agree one of my all time favourite movies

[shytalk]

I have got it downloading, very slow though a lot of people on it.:PDT_Aliboronz_24:

[john]

THIS IS ENGLAND
Running time: 102 mins
Starring: Thomas Turgoose, Joe Gilgun, Andrew Shin, Stephen Graham, Vicky McClure
Tiscali Rating of 09Tiscali Rating of 09
This is brilliant.

Shane Meadows' new film puts him firmly at the top of the pile of British filmmakers who are actually making films about Britain. Partly based on Meadows' own experiences as a skinhead in the Midlands backwater of Uttoxeter in the 1980s, This is England is an often hilarious and ultimately very moving indictment of the times seen through the eyes of a young teenager.

Thomas Turgoose stars - and stars is most definitely the right word - as Shaun, a cheeky thirteen-year-old grieving for the recent death of his father during the Falklands conflict. Living in a shabby council flat with a mother who dresses him in the fashions of the 1970s, Shaun befriends a group of skinheads at his school, and begins to find a new identity for himself.

What Meadows is at pains to point out is that the original British skinheads were a multi-coloured mix of black and white, and Shaun finds himself under the wing of some of the gang's prominent members including the white Woody (Joe Gilgun) and the black Milky (Andrew Shin). Instead of terrorising the neighbourhood or seeking out racist victims, these skins are more likely to have a nice cup of tea while chilling out to some ska.

Shaun's brief idyll is shattered by the return to town of former gang-member Combo (Stephen Graham), who plays the outsider figure usually associated with Paddy Considine in earlier Meadows' films such as A Room for Romeo Brass and Dead Man's Shoes. Combo is also a skin, but one who has been radicalised by the NF in his recent stay in prison, and he has one thing on his mind: to convert the rest of the group to his new all-white way of thinking.

The set and costume design, accompanied by a blistering soundtrack, are already enough to make this a highly enjoyable affair. But what lifts Meadows' work to the highest level are both his script and the extraordinary group of young actors he has found. Turgoose delivers one of the best debuts in recent times, while Stephen Graham provides an uneasy mix of charm and terror as the group's chief tormentor. One of the best films of the year and not to be missed.

http://www.tiscali.co.uk/entertainment/film/reviews/this-is-england.html

[shytalk]

I just watched it, I couldn't see what all the fuss is about. I usually find that films acclaimed by the critics disappoint me though. It was OK. but to be honest the last 15 mins. bored me. :PDT_Aliboronz_24:

[lindylou]

I never took to it either. :neutral:

[john]

Stephen Graham who plays Combo comes from Kirkby

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0334318/bio