This Is England

Most of the time, a movie hits me because I relate to it in one way or another. I might see a lot of myself in a certain character, a particular scene could bring up some memory I had forgotten about, or perhaps a single line brings to mind a conversation from years before. Very rarely do I truly enjoy a film that doesn’t strike a personal chord – major or minor.

However, when I watched Shane Meadows’ This Is England, my reasons for liking it were not as clear-cut as a personal connection. The film, released in 2007, follows a group of British skinheads in 1983. I wasn’t born for another three years, I’ve never been out of the United States, and I am definitely not a skinhead.

Yet, the film is one of the best I’ve seen in a long time. It follows Shaun (played by Thomas Turgoose, the highlight of the movie), a 12-year-old boy whose father has died in the Falklands War. Being twelve and fatherless, Shaun has no friends, acts out in school, and a promising future doesn’t look probable. One day, after getting in a fight at school, Shaun is walking home and runs into a group of skinheads sitting under a bridge.

Usually, you would expect to see the group of delinquents mess with Shaun. But instead, they end up being a turning point in his life. For Shaun, they act as the father(s) that he has lost, and they also create an avenue for Shaun to join in a counteractive movement against the very war that killed his father.

This is an extremely basic explanation, and it’s because This Is England is a film that you should go into with little or no expectations – it’s just more fun that way. Meadows, using his personal experiences from childhood via Shaun, creates a feeling of constant tension. It continues to build, leading up to outbursts of anger and explosions of anarchy, all of which will be quite obvious when you watch the film.

Still, this tension is balanced out nicely with really funny moments and lovable characters (I’ve never loved skinheads this much.) Not to mention, a soundtrack made up of Toots & The Maytals, Dexy’s Midnight Runners, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and Percy Sledge. The mixture of cultures is brilliantly done.

This Is England immediately begins with a montage of clips that set the context of 1983 England – it was a ghastly scene. Thatcher seemed to be in charge while a myriad of gangs were running the streets, and all you end up caring about is some 12-year-old kid and his pot-smoking friends.

For 101 minutes, you are put in the midst of the chaos, and though a lot of it is really tragic, there is also a strong sense of respect between the gang members, and you end up finding it hard to believe that any of them would do any real harm.

The film uses this duality to shed light on universal ideas such as war, love, and what it means to be a family. Everyone will walk away from the film with something valuable.