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Friday, July 27
This Is England
This Is Brilliant
Trailers & Mo
Lost souls living in lost places have nowhere to look but down, but when someone just like them comes along and shows em that there's an easy answer to their not so easy problems, this up can become quite a downer. And such is the way of life for young fatherless Shaun (Thomas 'Tommo' Turgoose, chipping in the strongest debut of a kid I've seen since Natalie Portman went toe to toe with Jean Reno in Léon), slowly going nowhere in a nameless English town, during those difficult early Margaret Thatcher years. That is until he's taken in by local group of skinheads, who are more into mischief and Ska music than kicking people's heads in. While having plenty of summer fun with the lads, and some sassy lassies, Shaun's dreary days seem like a thing of the past... until Combo (Snatch's Stephen Graham, showing he's more than juss Tommy The Tit), a recently released jailbird, rejoins the ragtag group of young skinheads. Combo quickly separates the weak from the weak-minded in the crew, and leads them into a new direction, filled with rage and hate for the foreigners who he claims are chipping away at the idealistic England of their forefathers. Combo takes quite a liking to Shaun, seeing a lot of himself in the boy, so he steps in naturally as a father figure to him. For awhile, this relationship seems to work, but Combo's racist philosophy eventually rears its ugly head
In a shutnell, I loved this film. It not only works as a solid piece of entertainment, but it actually has something to say, even if the message isn't so straightforward. This Is England is only the second Shane Meadows' film that we've viddied, but we aim to correct that issue pronto. If his other works are anywhere close to this subtle bestness, then I can see why peeps be claiming that he's the heir apparent to such revered British filmmakers like Ken Loach and Mike Leigh. And if you don't know what the fork I'm talking about, you can juss Leighve me be!!
Netflux Capacitor: nuttin rocks harder than European youth raging against the machine and thats why you should peep out 'çois Truffaut's The 400 Blows [trailer]
Apt MPupil3: The Specials' hauntin 'Ghost Town' [d|vid]
BBC BFFs: Turgoose & Graham can also be seen together in BBC's The Innocence Project
John Grisham's Jizzum (aka Verdict): Breast In Show
until next thyme the balcony is clothed...
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