Review of This Is England (2007) by Ross M — 20 Oct 2009

Fantastic, realalistic and emotional. A fine film from Shane Meadows, living up perfectly to Dead Man's Shoes and A Room For Romeo Brass.

Shane Meadows has always had a knack for making gritty British films and this one is definitely no exception. In fact, this is by far the grittiest I have seen from him.

A fantastic cast, playing their roles as if their characters were real people picked right off the streets, portray human emotion with pure realism. No Hollywood overacting to be seen here, just real characters played by real, skillful actors. Thomas Turgoose, only about 13 at the time, plays his character with depth, understanding and detail. For such a young actor, this is amazing. Andrew Shim, who was a fantastic child star in A Room For Romeo Brass as the title character, now plays an older character here. He does so with talent. He truely shines right near the end of the film where his character is given a spotlight in a tense, claustrophobic scene, set in one room in a flat. Stephen Graham is admirable as the neo nazi, racist leading male antagonist. His character is sickening yet, somehow, Graham manages to allow you to feel the slightist bit of sympathy for him in one scene where he confronts an old flame with purely kind intentions. The rest of the cast ar fantastic and all of them together make one of the best ensembles of all time.

Shane Meadows directs this fantastically, depsite, or maybe because of his low budget. He picks his shots and scenes carefully and makes sure he doesn't ruin it with pretentious Hollywood style. No, for that would not suit the subject matter. Meadows understands what does and employs techniques that compliment his plot, whilst still directing with a kind of disguised grace.

Overall, This Is England is a captivating, gripping, sickening and deeply emotional film and one of the best British films of all time.