This Is England (Shane Meadows, 2006) is a British drama film that explores the culture of skinhead movement in England during the early 1980s. The film received critical acclaim and won the Best British Independent Film award at the 2006 British Independent Film Awards.
The film’s director, Shane Meadows, is a filmmaker from Nottingham who emerged during the 1990s during a period when regional arts funding was available – allowing him to collaborate with like-minded filmmakers and develop a handful of short films. Meadows released his first feature length film, TwentyFourSeven (1997), a piece rooted in kitchen sink realism and cinéma vérité – film movements that are defined by the showcase of the struggles of working-class lives of young individuals. Meadows’ narratives share concerns with these movements, touching upon similar subject matters, locations, and themes.
Throughout his filmography, Meadows often casts non-professional actors. In This is England, the most notable example of this is Thomas Turgoose who plays Shaun. At the time, Turgoose was a 13 year old boy who had never acted before, being banned from his school’s play due to bad behaviour. This serves to reinforce the gritty, realist tone that Meadows strives for within his body of work. When developing a screenplay, Meadows will typically write the foundations of the dialogue, before encouraging the actors to improvise during a rehearsals. Through this, the dialogue becomes fully realised and an extra layer of authenticity is also added during this process.
This is England was shot on location in the midlands, predominantly in Nottingham. However, Meadows filmed the scenes that displayed the town’s docks in Grimsby, making the setting more ambiguous. To reinforce this, the characters accents are also particularly eclectic. For example, while Woody and Gadget have a Lancashire accent, Combo, on the other hand, has a highly distinctive Scouse accent. The film’s aesthetic can be characterised by a mix of gritty realism and stylised cinematography that contribute to the film’s roots in kitchen sink realism. Meadows use of a handheld camera alongside natural lighting give the film a raw, documentary-style feel. The film’s compiled soundtrack also features a mix of classic reggae and punk songs that were popular with the skinhead subculture that the film explores.
The film portrays the skinhead subculture as a diverse movement that includes both racist and non-racist factions, with Shaun becoming involved within the cultures of both groups. The film also explores the impact of racism on the skinhead movement and how it led to the rise of far-right extremist groups in England. Throughout the film, the rise of far-right extremism in England is critiqued, alongside the indoctrination of these beliefs onto the youth. Shane Meadows has even cited his own personal experience with the skinhead movement as inspiration for the film. This Is England was followed by a television series of the same name, airing in 2010 and set from 1986-1990. The series continued the story of the characters, concluding in 2015.
Otis Morley’s A-Level Film Studies Blog 