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Harvey Karten's Reviews

Review: This is England

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#1 of 1 Posted 7/29/07 2:45 PM

From Harveycritic Posts 1632 Last Nov-2
To All [Msg # 22557.1 ]

THIS IS ENGLAND

Reviewed for CompuServe by Harvey S. Karten
First Take (IFC)
Grade: B
Directed by:    Shane Meadows
Written by: Shane Meadows
Cast:   Thomas Turgoose, Stephen Graham, Jo Hartley, Andrew Shim, Vicky McClure, Joe Gilgun,
Rosamund Hanson, Andrew Ellis, Perry Benson, George Newton, Frank Harper, Pukey Nicholis, Kris
Dosanjh
Screened at: IFC Center, NYC, 7/29/07
Opens: July 27, 2007

If this is England, one has to wonder whether John of Gaunt in Shakespeare’s 1601 play “Richard II,” was drunk or demented when he called his country “This Earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,/This other Eden, demi-paradise ... This precious stone set in a silver sea.” Or maybe things changed between 1601 and 1983, the latter being the year depicted by Shane Meadows in “This is England.” The segment of scepter’d isle here is a godforsaken bit of Yorkshire land near Nottingham, location of stereotypical small-town houses surrounded by vast areas of the kind of wilderness only a fanatical member of the Sierra Club would want to save. The people who live here may vaguely be aware that there are surrounding countries called France and the Netherlands, and probably consider London some mystical paradise from which they occasionally get hip imports like groovy boots–but have likely never visited their own country’s capital. These are the kinds of people who might be susceptible to the propaganda of extreme right-wing groups like the National Front, a political party which has no compunctions about rallying local youths, especially if they’ve served time in the joint, encouraging them to become xenophobic skinheads. Hey, if you have no education and can’t find a job, it’s not your fault. It’s all because the Commie-infiltrated government is giving welfare to Pakistani immigrants.

After watching Meadows’s autobiographical movie–the writer-director was once a young skinhead, even calling his little 12-year-old hero “Shaun” rather than going all the way and naming him “Shane”–one can’t help thinking that the kids with the shaved heads are using the political message about welfare recipients as an excuse to carry out mayhem against those who do not look like them. In one case, a fellow who seems to get along famously with an English kid originally from Jamaica goes after him with both fists minutes after calling him “my brother,” the suggested motive being that the white guy had just been rejected by a girl with whom he had a one-night stand years earlier before he went to jail.

Shaun (Thomas Turgoose), the focus of the story, is a lonely 12-year-old kid who mourns the loss of his dad in the Falklands War of 1982 that pitted the UK against Argentina. Picked on by others, he is befriended by the local skinhead group led by Woody (Joe Gilgun), whose girlfriend and some other young women give Shaun a haircut. They hang out daily, in one instance getting their jollies by tearing apart an abandoned house. When Combo (Stephen Graham), released from jail after three years, moves to take over the group, he causes a split with the more radical skins joining him. Shaun, to whom Combo is a father-figure, joins the extremists, but when in one sudden, expected scene of violence occurs, he has an epiphany–leading to his redemption if not an end to his loneliness.

“This is England” has a predictable conclusion and is filled with scenes of just hanging out, but its chief merit is some fine acting by Turgoose, a non-professional actor, in the role of the 12-year-old and a first-class performance by Stephen Graham in the charismatic guise of a right-wing fanatic who has his tender moments.

Not Rated.    98 minutes   © 2007 by Harvey Karten Member: NY Film Critics Online

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Harvey Karten's Reviews

Review: This is England

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