Neo-fascist skinhead Combo (an exceptional Stephen Graham) has recently been released from Her Majesty’s Pleasure and has vendettas to vent.
Combo wasn’t always this way. He used to be part of the original, more lefty skinhead subculture, but prison’s turned him. Now free, his new, racially motivated rage soon scares away long-term mate Woody (an immensely likeable Joseph Gilgun) – the man he did time for.
“It was the best night of my life,” Combo coos to Woody’s girlfriend, Lol (Vicky McClure), talking of their pre-slammer ‘night of passion’. “It was the worst one of mine,” she replies.
Combo was a kid before getting banged up, with his life ahead of him. But Woody got the girl, he got the time.
He’s now a disenfranchised man looking for disciples. And, surrounded by fickle teens in awe of the big boy in the room, he’s able to entice some of Woody’s gang into his hateful way of thinking.
Stuck in the middle is Shaun (newcomer Thomas Turgoose). It’s the last day of term in his Nottingham estate, and a summer of opportunity awaits. But having recently lost his dad in the Falklands, the 11-year-old latches onto father figures left, far right and centre.
Bullied at school for his baggies in a time of skinny jeans (“Will you behave with the flare comments!”), first Woody and then Combo take him under their wing. The former is jocular – buying his protégé a Ben Sherman shirt and inviting him on wasteland ‘hunting’ trips.
The latter is intense – gifting Shaun a St George’s Cross and taking him along to National Front meets.
As a snapshot of youth, This Is England is timeless. Shaun is a sponge, absorbing everything from sex to booze to smokes to ideas. As a nostalgic glimpse of 1983, it’s immaculate. At the kick-off, director Shane Meadows montages what made England exciting back then (CDs, punks, the bloody Rubik’s Cube!) with what made it fearful (riots, strikes, war).
For the first half-hour at least, the film is far funnier than you may expect.
As a stocky, cheeky kid in the headlights of puberty, Turgoose’s naturalism constantly charms, while his mum Cynthia (Jo Hartley) frets touchingly beneath her power perm.
The language (“That’s sterling!”), the clothing (Doc Martens, braces, checked shirts) and the music are all magnificent. Framed by a director who treats nearly every shot as a work of art to hang in the Tate – sod Constable, this is England – if you were unaware of how choice the ’80s were before, prepare for a slap in the face.
Shaun
Thomas Turgoose Combo
Stephen Graham Cynth
Jo Hartley Milky
Andrew Shim Lol
Vicky McClure Woody
Joe Gilgun Smell
Rosamund Hanson Gadget
Andrew Ellis Meggy
Perry Benson Banjo
George Newton Lenny
Frank Harper Pukey Nicholls
Jack O’Connell Mr Sandhu
Kriss Dosanjh Kes
Kieran Hardcastle Kelly
Chanel Cresswell Trev
Danielle Watson Pob
Sophie Ellerby Mr Dudley
Dave Laws Harvey
Michael Socha
Director
Shane Meadows
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Bullied at school for his baggies in a time of skinny jeans (“Will you behave with the flare comments!”), first Woody and then Combo take him under their wing. The former is jocular – buying his protégé a Ben Sherman shirt and inviting him on wasteland ‘hunting’ trips.
As a stocky, cheeky kid in the headlights of puberty, Turgoose’s naturalism constantly charms, while his mum Cynthia (Jo Hartley) frets touchingly beneath her power perm.
