England Is Mine (2017)

A portrait of Morrissey and his early life in 1970s Manchester before he went on to become the lead singer of seminal alternative rock band The Smiths.

Director:

Mark Gill

Writers:

Mark Gill, William Thacker

Stars:

Jodie Comer, Jessica Brown Findlay, Jack Lowden

4 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Jodie Comer	...	Christine
Jessica Brown Findlay	...	Linder Sterling
Jack Lowden	...	Steven Patrick Morrissey
Simone Kirby	...	Elizabeth Morrissey
Laurie Kynaston	...	Johnny Marr
Peter McDonald	...	Peter Morrissey
Graeme Hawley	...	Mr. Leonard
Finney Cassidy	...	Darren
Adam Lawrence	...	Billy Duffy
Katherine Pearce	...	Anji Hardie
Nicola-Jayne Wells	...	Rock Chick
Marc Graham	...	Gordon
Vivienne Bell	...	Jackie Morissey
Rosanna	...	Siobhan
Joseph Carter	...	Gary

Storyline

Manchester, 1976. Stephen Patrick Morrissey is unemployed and depressed. He eventually finds work but it doesn't interest him. His only interest appears to be writing down his observations on life and people in a journal. We see his life over the next six years and how this period would have a bearing on his later life for, in 1982, he was to form The Smiths, one of the most influential bands of the 80s.

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Plot Keywords:

adolescent | manchester | teenager | year 1976 | singer | 

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Taglines:

On Becoming Morrissey

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Music

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

The record store owner in the movie is played by Nigel Young, the real-life owner of the Reel Around The Fountain Records shop in Stretford Arndale shopping centre. Reel Around The Fountain Records is named after a song written by Morrissey and Johnny Marr on the Smiths debut album, the fountain in question was in the Stretford Arndale centre, inspiring Nigel to name his shop after it. The movie producers fitted out an empty shop unit in the upper level of Stretford Arndale as a 1970s record shop to use as the set for the film, Nigel's actual shop was in the lower level at the time of filming in 2016 but he assisted in creating the filming set. Since then, the redevelopment of the shopping centre has seen Reel Around The Fountain Records move to a new unit in the upper level, a curious case of life imitating art.

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Quotes

Steven Patrick Morrissey: The past is everything I have failed to be.It was the ease of doing nothing over the fear of doing something. Do I carry those defeat sand emerge with a flag of victory? It could be the start of something.Even though the world does not want your dance and your glitter. Men were born to pray and save. Romantic England's dead and gone. It's with Jane Austen in the grave.

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Soundtracks

In My Lonely Room
Written by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Eddie Holland (as Edward Holland Jr.)
Performed by Martha & The Vandellas

User Reviews

a film for the fans!!!

to start off with, if you're going into this film hoping to see plenty of smiths songs and smiths related stuff, you're going to be disappointed. however this film is a realistic, enlightening and well made insight into a young, socially awkward yet likable Stephen Patrick Morrissey, trying to get his voice heard in the cramped music scene of the 1970/80s. Jack Lowden (Morrissey) who may not really look a lot like Morrissey, does a excellent job of portraying all of his unique characteristics and making him likable in the processes.

as a massive smiths fan I was of course disappointed at the absence of any smiths songs, however the music was still very good, using a lot of mid 70s tracks, which is sure to give a lot of older fans nostalgia. the only problem I found was that I originally knew this would obviously be a dramatization like most film biographies, but I then found out later that this is an unauthorized film, meaning that all of this could of possibly been false information, which is a bit of a waste of an hour and a half if it is.

altogether though it was a very well made film with lots of style and memorable performances. hopefully a follow-up will be made in the future which focuses more on the smiths and their road to becoming one of the most recognizable bands ever made.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [Japan]

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 August 2017 (USA)

Also Known As:

England Is Mine

Filming Locations:

Manchester, Greater Manchester, England, UK

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$366,802

Company Credits

Production Co:

Honlodge Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39:1