This Is England (Shane Meadows, 2007)
Plot Summary
This Is England (Shane Meadows, 2007) follows a young boy in 1983, Shaun, who lives in Northern England with his mother. His father died in the Falklands War and when a boy jokes about this at school, Shaun becomes angry and gets into a fight with him. On his way home, Shaun walks past a group of skinheads. Their leader, Woody, takes sympathy on Shaun and invites him to sit with them. Alongside Woody, the gang is made up of friends Milky, Pokey, Kes, and Gadget. Shaun is accepted into the gang, going out with them to smash up abandoned buildings. Woody and his girlfriend Lol begin to take on a protective, parental role for Shaun.
With some more friends, the gang host a party one night. Shaun begins a romantic relationship with an older teenager, Smell. The party is interrupted by the arrival of Combo, a first-wave skinhead who has come out of a prison sentence in which he took the fall for Woody. Woody instructs everyone to respect Combo for this, and they do; however, the situation becomes awkward when Combo begins spouting the nationalist and racist ideas he acquired in prison, particularly offending Milky.
When Combo battles Woody for ‘leadership,’ Woody leaves the scene out of protest of the ideas Combo has picked up that he disagrees with. The gang splits, with Lol, Kes, and Milky leaving with Woody. As part of his speech, Combo used the Falklands War to rouse patriotism and anti-Thatcher sentiment. Like before, this upsets Shaun who takes a swing at Combo. Manipulated into feeling like he has to fight against a tide of foreigners threatening true British identity in order to honour what his father died for, Shaun stays with Combo.
The half of the gang who sided with Combo attend a National Front meeting at a pub. Though the rest lap it up, the racist and nationalist politics disturbs Pukey. He questions Combo, who kicks him out of the car and out of the group. Now a politicised nationalist force, the group under Combo threaten children, graffiti on walls, and attack a local Asian shopkeeper with bigoted insults and physical threats - Combo using his machete to control the shopkeeper while the others steal what they like.
Combo follows Lol to work. She thinks he wants to discuss the Woody situation, but Combo actually wants to discuss their previous relationship. He presents her with a box he made while in prison, revealing that he never stopped thinking about their night together while inside. Lol immediately rebuffs him, saying with force and resentment that it was the worst night of her life, that she was 16 and drunk and he took advantage of her. Distraught, Combo finds Milky and asks him to procure him some cannabis, inviting him over.
At Combo’s place, it seems Milky and Combo have a deep conversation about their families and bond while intoxicated. However, Combo becomes increasingly resentful of the family life Milky is describing - one of comfort, love, and many relatives Combo had never experienced. His racist viewpoint then comes to the fore of his hatred and envy, and in a blind rage, he beats Milky nearly to death while his right hand man holds Shaun down, preventing him from helping. After attacking Banjo too, Combo kicks him out until it’s just the three of them left in the apartment. He calms and is horrified at the reality of what he’s done, making Shaun help him get Milky to the hospital.
Later, Shaun’s mother comes into his room and reassures him that Milky will be ok. Shaun visits the sea, taking the National Front flag Combo gave him and symbolically throwing it in the water.
Personal Reactions
I really enjoyed This Is England - even more than Trainspotting. The characters are all flawed and charismatic, and the turns of the story, particularly the revelation of Combo having raped Lol and then Combo’s sudden violent brutality towards Milky at the end, are jaw-droppingly shocking. I was completely enveloped in the story and themes, especially enjoying the relationship between Woody and Shaun. At the same time as the witty dialogue, there are depictions of political, nationalist, and racist viewpoints that are horrifying. The two are balanced perfectly. I thought the film handled the distinction between the early skinhead movement, with the strong Jamaican influence and multiculturalism, and the later white power skinheads really well. One aspect of the film did not seem like a commentary or critique on anything though, which made it seem completely unnecessary and just weird: the relationship between extremely-underage Shaun and Smell. Without those scenes, I think the film would have been a 5 for me.
4.75/5 stars.