This Is England (2006)

A young boy becomes friends with a gang of skinheads. Friends soon become like family, and relationships will be pushed to the very limit.

Director:

Shane Meadows

Writer:

Shane Meadows

Stars:

Thomas Turgoose, Stephen Graham, Jo Hartley

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 13 wins & 15 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Thomas Turgoose	...	Shaun
Stephen Graham	...	Combo
Jo Hartley	...	Cynth
Andrew Shim	...	Milky
Vicky McClure	...	Lol
Joseph Gilgun	...	Woody (as Joe Gilgun)
Rosamund Hanson	...	Smell
Andrew Ellis	...	Gadget
Perry Benson	...	Meggy
George Newton	...	Banjo
Frank Harper	...	Lenny
Jack O'Connell	...	Pukey Nicholls
Kriss Dosanjh	...	Mr. Sandhu
Kieran Hardcastle	...	Kes
Chanel Cresswell	...	Kelly

Storyline

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? When you see ...

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Plot Keywords:

skinhead | england | friend | racist | boy | 

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Taglines:

Run with the crowd, stand alone, you decide.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [Japan]

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 April 2007 (UK)

Also Known As:

Ovo je Engleska

Filming Locations:

Boston, Lincolnshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

£1,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£207,676 (United Kingdom), 29 April 2007, Limited Release

Opening Weekend USA:

$18,430, 29 July 2007, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$327,919, 18 November 2007

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warp Films,Big Arty Productions,EM Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

At a Q&A period following this film's world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, director Shane Meadows noted that the grim skinhead influenced upbringing of the 11-year-old protagonist was a true portrayal of his own childhood and many of the events depicted were drawn from his early life.

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Goofs

Blockbusters, the popular 80s game-show the gang are seen to be watching didn't actually debut on TV until 29 August 1983 - over a month after the events in which the film is set.

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Quotes

Shaun: [Last scene. Shaun drowns his St George's Cross Flag in a pond then stares mournfully into the camera]

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Connections

Featured in The Making of 'This Is England' (2007)

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Soundtracks

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

User Reviews

Skins in Thatcherland

The skinhead culture fascinates many directors and it's understandable. It's one of the few remaining subcultures in the West, much because of the Nazi connections.

But the skins in this movie aren't political and no racists to start with. One of the gang members is even black. They live in a happy community in the early 80s, having fun and being together in a totally grey unfriendly working class environment. It's very hopeful and the 12-year-old finds himself accepted for the first time in his life. His longing for the dead father of the Falklands war is somewhat replaced.

But darkness arrives with the skin veteran who comes back from jail. And there are conflicts between the racist fraction and the others. But whatever this is, it's not black and white. The characters are much more complicated.

Much has been said about young Thomas Turgoose as the 12-year-old. He's very good but the great portrait is by Stephen Graham as the old/new gang leader. Absolutely brilliant work.