Review of This Is England (1941) by Marcelo C — 30 Mar 2009

Don't know, it's about everything: . . . suicide, despair, where did our hope go? Lost hope, that's it, lost hope. . . . Yeah, well, you think everything is boring. I mean, you know, you wouldn't say that if it was the Lost Hope Diet.

The opening quote is not from this movie. It's from The Big Chill, where Michael is explaining to his People Magazine editor over the phone that he's got a good story line. His editor, obviously, thinks not. There will always be people who lose hope, in any generation, in any country.

Mahalo, Elliot, for the recommendation. This is a very good movie. I don't know how they found Thomas Turgoose, but he is wonderful as the damaged son who searches for meaning after his father's death. He is one who is saved by a choice for goodness at the end. This is a very dark portrait of England's youth, and of course the title of the film comes from the impassioned speech for hatred delivered under the guise of nationalism. I love the way Shakespeare's St. Crispin Day speech from Henry V is used to color the actual anti-nationalism of these thugs.

Another lost generation . . . I'm optimistic enough to say that Turgoose's character is not alone in making the choice for tolerance and non-violence. If the odds of that happening in real-world England were the same as in the world of this movie, England would be in a shambles by now. It's definitely not. Many more, like my niece and nephew and their chums in London, have made the choice for love, for peace, for tolerance -- for hope. Yes, there will always be people who have lost hope, but there will always be many more who choose not to do so. This is England.