"This Is England" is the English equivalent of "American History X" and "La haine". This doesn't mean it's a rip off, it's an original portrayal of the skinhead-scene in England as opposed to the U.S. and France and it's probably the most realistic of the three movies.
Shane Maedows apparently based a lot of this story on his own childhood experiences. He had proved that he knows how to portray English small towns before in movies like "Dead Man's Shoes". Again the cinematography and the soundtrack are amazingly beautiful. The scenery, the clothes, everything in this movie looks like it was actually filmed in 1983 when the story takes place. I don't know many other recent movies that portray the 80's as authentically as this one.
I cannot say much about how authentic this movie is when it comes to portraying the skinhead scene, but it definitely feels like it was very authentic. The characters are believable and played by an amazing cast. There is not one weak link here. 13 year old Thomas Turgoose, the leading kid, is up and away the best child actor I've ever seen. He's just amazing as Shaun, the little kid whose father died in the the war and who slips into the skinhead scene. Hopefully we'll hear more of this talented little brat.
The one weak aspect of "This Is England" is a flaw that it shares with almost every skinhead movie I've seen so far. The story is pretty predictable in its proceeding and in the way it's trying to explain violence and prejudice in the end. Social problems, unemployment and dysfunctional families were (are) certainly the main reasons for xenophobia as depicted in the movie, but somehow "This Is England" gets to that too quickly. It's always some character having a breakdown, so we all know that he's really just a confused and miserable guy. Mind you, this is by no means a fairy tail version of English violence like "Hooligans", but it's still not quite the definite movie on the subject.
Shane Maedows apparently based a lot of this story on his own childhood experiences. He had proved that he knows how to portray English small towns before in movies like "Dead Man's Shoes". Again the cinematography and the soundtrack are amazingly beautiful. The scenery, the clothes, everything in this movie looks like it was actually filmed in 1983 when the story takes place. I don't know many other recent movies that portray the 80's as authentically as this one.
I cannot say much about how authentic this movie is when it comes to portraying the skinhead scene, but it definitely feels like it was very authentic. The characters are believable and played by an amazing cast. There is not one weak link here. 13 year old Thomas Turgoose, the leading kid, is up and away the best child actor I've ever seen. He's just amazing as Shaun, the little kid whose father died in the the war and who slips into the skinhead scene. Hopefully we'll hear more of this talented little brat.
The one weak aspect of "This Is England" is a flaw that it shares with almost every skinhead movie I've seen so far. The story is pretty predictable in its proceeding and in the way it's trying to explain violence and prejudice in the end. Social problems, unemployment and dysfunctional families were (are) certainly the main reasons for xenophobia as depicted in the movie, but somehow "This Is England" gets to that too quickly. It's always some character having a breakdown, so we all know that he's really just a confused and miserable guy. Mind you, this is by no means a fairy tail version of English violence like "Hooligans", but it's still not quite the definite movie on the subject.