April 2007
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This is England (18)
Published 25th April 2007

This is… compelling, moving and touching. This is… powerful, provocative and sometimes difficult to watch. This is… rewarding and revealing cinema. This is England.

A sort of autobiographical tale – or at least written from a knowledgeable point-of-view – England is the fifth written and directed production from Shane Meadows (Dead Man’s Shoes). Set in early eighties rural England, where racial inequality is rife, school is out for the summer for 12-year-old Shaun (Thomas Turgoose); a boy who cuts a lonely figure trudging about town. Struggling without a father figure since his dad’s death fighting the Falklands war, Shaun is picked on at school and has no friends to speak of.

That is until he meets the charismatic Woody (Joseph Gilgun – TV’s Emmerdale), the leader of an amiable Ska-skinhead gang. Quickly assimilated into the gang Shaun is given a fresh buzz-cut, a Ben Sherman shirt, some Dr. Martin’s boots and introduced to a world of parties, first love and the joys of real friends. However the arrival of racist ex-convict Combo (Stephen Graham – Snatch) will upset their idyllic summer holidays. Dividing the gang with his radical opinions and nationalist rhetoric, several members take off, including Woody. Now with a new role model to look up to, Shaun begins a rite of passage that will leave him changed forever.

Although chiefly a story about the loss of childhood innocence, England is also about the deeply-rooted societal problems of that time: racism. And all credit to Meadows, for not only doesn’t he shy away from it, but instead tackles it (skin)head on. Musing on the nature of violence through hate, racism through nationalism and the cause and effect of unemployment and Thatcher’s “me” culture, its an unrestrained and unbiased look at individuals abandoned by society, vulnerable to the advances of the National Front and their “brainwashing” and manipulation.

Perhaps set to polarise people due to this humanising of the (racism-scapegoat) skinheads, Meadows deserves kudos for crafting wholly believable characters that never appear like simple one-dimensional caricatures, despite their beliefs or actions. This is thanks in no small part to the observed realism of his script and the natural-sounding dialogue, as well as the naturalistic performances of his entire cast.

Especially impressive is Stephen Graham’s scary and (surely) star-making turn as Combo. The catalyst for Shaun’s coming-of-age and the turn-for-the-worse in events, his grandstanding performance is somehow matched by an unbelievable debut from Thomas Turgoose as Shaun. Surely one of the best debuts ever, there probably isn't enough superlatives to describe just how magnificent he is, whether it’s swearing and scowling out of the screen or his deftness of delivery during some of the earlier lighter moments.

A director with an already impressive CV, Meadows has here created what may in time stand as his masterpiece. Near-faultless in direction, writing, acting and recreation of the eighties era (especially the soundtrack) This is England is a visual triumph, but more importantly it is a raw and real examination of serious social and cultural issues that although set in the past are prescient and relevant now. Taking pains to draw parallels with current events (the Falklands war-the Gulf war / the treatment of Muslims) and drawing upon his own personal childhood experiences, England positions Meadows as the UK’s answer to Spike Lee (Do the Right Thing). And that’s no mean compliment.

****

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