A story about a troubled boy growing up in England, set in 1983. He comes across a few skinheads on his way home from school, after a fight. They become his new best friends even like family. Based on experiences of director Shane Meadows.
This is England: Mods, New Romantics, and Skinheads are the major youth sub-cultures of this very English summer of 1983 and young 12-year-old Shaun is left wandering aimlessly alone and lost during the start of his school holidays, until his chance meeting with Woody and his fun and friendly Skinhead pack. Finding a new lease of life; girls, parties, Ben Sherman shirts, Doc Martin boots and shaven hairstyles young Shaun is welcomed, life during this summer holiday has got a whole lot better. That is until Combo arrives on the scene bitter, dangerous, racist, militant and psychotic life for young Shaun has just approached his first major crossroads. This is England is a look back at the early eighties of British working-class life through the eyes of young Shaun and his new gang, and dealing with the bitterness of outside influences such as racism and xenophobia, of mass unemployment and the fall out of the Falkland's War; Thatcher's Britain: Did we ever have it so good...
Written by Cinema_Fan
The poster on the wall (in the room in which Shaun has his hair-cut and puts on his new shirt) features six classic bands of the British Ska and 2Tone movement, and is from 1981's live vinyl album Dance Craze: The Best of British Ska...Live! The bands on the poster are Bad Manners, The Beat, The Bodysnatchers, Madness, The Selecter and The Specials.
See more »
Goofs
Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers):
When Shaun first meets with Woody, Milky and the other skinheads, in the tunnel after the fight at Shaun's school, you can clearly see that they've written 'Screwdriver' with spray-paint, but the group it refers to is spelt 'Skrewdriver'.
See more »
Quotes
Lenny:
Some people say we're racists.We're not racists. We're realists.Some people call us Nazis.We're not Nazis.No, what we are, we are nationalists and there's a reason people try to pigeonhole us like this.And that is because of one word, gentlemen.- Fear. See more »
"Come On Eileen"
Written by Kevin Rowland, James Paterson and Kevin Adams Performed by Dexys Midnight Runners Published by EMI Music Publishing Ltd. Courtesy of Mercury Records (London) Ltd. Licensed by kind permission from the Film & TV licensing Division, Part of the Universal Music Group
See more »