Young Shaun Fields is bullied at school and trudging home fed-up when he is beckoned over by a bunch of older boys hanging out in the underpass. Although they are skinheads, Shaun likes their leader Woody and likewise he wins them over with his attitude is bigger than his size and he becomes part of the gang hanging out and having fun. This changes when Woody's friend Combo is released from prison, his militant views causes a split in the group with Shaun staying wit Combo as Woody, Milky and others head off.
It helps to be of a certain age to appreciate everything this film has to offer. For myself I barely fell into this group mainly because I grew up in Northern Ireland and it goes without saying that we had our own "issues" to deal with while England had theirs. However I have some point of reference with the news etc even if I was not even 10 at the point of this film. That said, even with my limited knowledge I still found the people and period within this film to be totally convincing. A colleague who encouraged me to see this, was in his teens in the Midlands at the time this film was set, did tell me that the film got it spot on in regards the people that he remembered and the culture at the time.
This is the film's strength and has always been an attraction of Meadows' films that he manages to produce natural and convincing characters within a realistic world. This is important because the narrative relies you the audience being engaged by the characters as it is very much driven by them. Through them Meadows deals with issues such as male rage, intolerance and the importance of belonging to a gang (or group) and he does so in a powerful and engaging script. It is easy to say that Meadows achieved this by drawing from real life experiences but it still takes a great deal of skill to translate experiences to written words and then to actors. Like I said, it does really help to understand the society and mood at the time this was set but even without that it is good enough to get you into it without this knowledge ahead of time.
The delivery of the characters falls to a strong cast who will mostly be unknown outside of the UK but who all turn in spot-on characters. Turgoose got the attention early on when this film came out and rightly so because he does delivery a strong performance that is a million miles from the cute and annoying performances of others his age in many other mainstream films. However for me the absolute standout performance was from Stephen Graham. Words and action give him a simple "racist thug" character but he has understood his character and the complexities of the rage within him looking for a channel. When he is in thug mode he is convincing and compelling but his best moments come where he lets you see something else momentarily. It is obvious to pick it but his best moment is his relaxed chat with Milky, you can see the "real" person but also see the anger spark in him before finding the easiest outlet for it something simple to lash out at. It is an impressive moment in a roundly impressive performance. These two together dominate the film but that is to take nothing away from the roundly solid support work from Shim, McClure, Gilgun and others who are all convincing and play their parts perfectly. I rarely think to mention the supporting crew when reviewing a film but several things did stand out for me. Firstly those designing sets and costumes got it just right there was really nothing that felt modern, from the clothes right through to the outdoor locations (the scattering of archive footage also helps). Secondly is the cinematography which is bleak and gritty, perfectly matching the mood of the time and of the script.
Overall then a very impressive British film no, a very impressive film, full stop. The places, period and characters are really well scripted by Meadows who in turn brings the best out of his cast with not a single performance really standing out as clunky or out of place. Excellent leads from Turgoose and Graham only make things better, while the film looks great by capturing the period in looks (costumes) and feel (cinematography).
It helps to be of a certain age to appreciate everything this film has to offer. For myself I barely fell into this group mainly because I grew up in Northern Ireland and it goes without saying that we had our own "issues" to deal with while England had theirs. However I have some point of reference with the news etc even if I was not even 10 at the point of this film. That said, even with my limited knowledge I still found the people and period within this film to be totally convincing. A colleague who encouraged me to see this, was in his teens in the Midlands at the time this film was set, did tell me that the film got it spot on in regards the people that he remembered and the culture at the time.
This is the film's strength and has always been an attraction of Meadows' films that he manages to produce natural and convincing characters within a realistic world. This is important because the narrative relies you the audience being engaged by the characters as it is very much driven by them. Through them Meadows deals with issues such as male rage, intolerance and the importance of belonging to a gang (or group) and he does so in a powerful and engaging script. It is easy to say that Meadows achieved this by drawing from real life experiences but it still takes a great deal of skill to translate experiences to written words and then to actors. Like I said, it does really help to understand the society and mood at the time this was set but even without that it is good enough to get you into it without this knowledge ahead of time.
The delivery of the characters falls to a strong cast who will mostly be unknown outside of the UK but who all turn in spot-on characters. Turgoose got the attention early on when this film came out and rightly so because he does delivery a strong performance that is a million miles from the cute and annoying performances of others his age in many other mainstream films. However for me the absolute standout performance was from Stephen Graham. Words and action give him a simple "racist thug" character but he has understood his character and the complexities of the rage within him looking for a channel. When he is in thug mode he is convincing and compelling but his best moments come where he lets you see something else momentarily. It is obvious to pick it but his best moment is his relaxed chat with Milky, you can see the "real" person but also see the anger spark in him before finding the easiest outlet for it something simple to lash out at. It is an impressive moment in a roundly impressive performance. These two together dominate the film but that is to take nothing away from the roundly solid support work from Shim, McClure, Gilgun and others who are all convincing and play their parts perfectly. I rarely think to mention the supporting crew when reviewing a film but several things did stand out for me. Firstly those designing sets and costumes got it just right there was really nothing that felt modern, from the clothes right through to the outdoor locations (the scattering of archive footage also helps). Secondly is the cinematography which is bleak and gritty, perfectly matching the mood of the time and of the script.
Overall then a very impressive British film no, a very impressive film, full stop. The places, period and characters are really well scripted by Meadows who in turn brings the best out of his cast with not a single performance really standing out as clunky or out of place. Excellent leads from Turgoose and Graham only make things better, while the film looks great by capturing the period in looks (costumes) and feel (cinematography).