This is England (2006)

Very well done - worth watching.Only spoiled by a very faulty disc!

this movie was ok. it was slow to start though and was a bit too violent. the scenes with the young boy kissing should have been banned and they were grose. where is the censor with this bit?

A brilliant British film. It features a great insight into the Thatcher years in the United Kingdom, a look at the Falklands War and provides an understanding of how skinheads came to be and what they stood for all from the point of view of an impressionable young boy. Two massive thumbs up from me and a big seal of approval!

This Is England is a movie by Shane Meadow, an English director of which I hadn't seen any other movie before. The movie tells about a young kid named Shaun (I believe 10-12 years old) who has lost his father in the Falkland War, which was by many considered a useless war that caused fatalities that could have been avoided especially because England was at that time facing other internal problems, like unemployment and an immigration policy that was getting out of control. Shaun is extremely saddened by the loss of his father, he lives with his mother but has no siblings and can't make any good friends at school, so he feels pretty lonely. One day he runs into a group of young skinheads and he slowly starts feeling comfortable around them. In a short time he starts adopting the same clothing style and haircut and he feels accepted and part of the group. His group of friends become his family. One day, Combo, the leader of the group, comes back after serving a three year sentence in prison and the atmosphere that the group was living, suddenly changes. Combo has some radical political views about the immigration policy that England is adopting, he blames on immigrants the raise in unemployment and accuses them of stealing the jobs that belong to "native" English people. Combo draws a line: those who are not willing or ready to fight a war against immigrants must leave the group immediately. Almost everyone leaves the group but Shaun decides to stay because he feels that fighting a war for England will give a sense to his father's death. I will stop here to avoid disclosing too much about the movie. The impression I have had is that this is English is a genuine movie, a movie that tells a story of loneliness, of how desperately we need to be surrounded by people who we trust and make us feel protected (in a way or another), of the importance of growing up in a sound family environment and the consequences of growing up in a disfunctional one. The young Thomas Thurgoose is very talented and we might see more of him in the future. But the real star of the movie is Stephen Graham (Combo), who delivers an amazingly intense and credible performance, portraying a guy who hates immigrants, black people, happy people, but in reality all he hates his himself. The only thing that maybe leaves a bit disappointed is the length of the movie (about 90 minutes). For such an intense and well acted movie, I would have loved if the second part of the script had been developed further, exploring the subject more deeply. My rating for this movie is 3 and a half (out of five) stars. This is the first review I have ever written in English. I have got a queue of more than 500 movies to watch and my goal is to write a review for each one of them. Please note that English is not my first language therefore my review might appear quite poor or simplistic, but hopefully I will improve with time. I definitely hope to improve my writing speed too, as it took me almost an hour to write this :-)

Not too bad, actually expected a bit better. Insight into Northern England during the Thatcher years

I am English and a year younger than Shaun, (1983 speaking), and I really enjoyed this one. It's a great story about belonging and the power of a good father.

im English this is English , perfect with a cup of tea

Amazing. Gripping, depressing, funny, great soundtrack, great acting. This is not light viewing.

just a great film, everything about it incredible. from the acting to the character. the story as a whole that makes this movie you feel for the kid, just his adventure in this story is something you belive and its just awesome and this kid is amazing and what a ending i loved it to bits.

Robert has summed it up beautifully " If this is England, God help the rest of the world! ". Why fill your head up with such trash? Beyond me...

If this is England, God help the rest of the world!

Interesting but not my most favourite view

Powerful. Acting is first class. Bravo to young Thomas Turgoose. Soundtrack is classic and haunting. Good use of humour when needed. Nice building up of tension. Brilliant.

A very disturbing yet insightful look into the skinhead culture in England during the 80's and the effects of Thatcher's policies upon the nation. Very well acted and very realistic. Highly recommended.

Terrific acting from the young fella in the lead role in a very watchable movie. Always knew something was going to go wrong but that didn't detract from the movie too much. Very faithful recreation of the time too.

Solid movie. Easy to understand how parts of society become marginalised and what may follow as a consquence. This movie is worth a watch.

While this type of story has been done many times before and therefore nothing new, it is the fantastic performances and the recreation of the period that lift it to a higher level. Though is ending is somewhat predictable, it nevertheless avoids sinking totally into despair.

A loss of innocence when Britain invaded the Falklands and a loss of innocence when a young boy becomes involved with the wrong skinhead. Great acting from all and a good plot

Once again Shane Meadows has been able to capture the essence of English life in the early 1980's and the social changes and upheavals. We experience this through the eyes of a young boy, 12 year old Shaun, whose life is the mirror of major social change and uprising of the unemployed, racial tension and war

Very hard hitting story about racist skinhead culture in Maggie Thatcher's England. Disturbing, gritty. So well acted..it doesn't seem like acting. Highly recommended but be warned ..this is tough stuff.

Disturbing!

Brilliant. Everything about this movie is impressive, from the acting and direction to the soundtrack, but Thomas Turgoose in particular is just incredible. A very touching and engaging film.

Very violent movie but thought provoking and emotional.

This film gives an insight into the "lower classes" of an English city. A young boy joins a local gang and learns to hate the coloureds which is not in his nature. There is no shooting or serious roughing up but an interplay between the joung people. Until a radical element is introduced in the form of older men who wanted to start a revolution against the colourds. Acting is superb and there some funny situations too. Great movie.

I didn't like it

soso not aq real look at life over acted

Thought it would be a bovver by bloodfest but turned out to be a film about some really interesting and quite vulnerable people in Thatcher's Bwitain. Not a film about skinheads, but about kids who happened to be growing up in a place and time where being a skinhead made sense. More of a love story then a head-kicker, but very tense as well. Amazing performances. Highly recommended.

The boy does a good job in an otherwise contrived take on England in the 1980's. Fot a much better representation (and better movie), watch Billy Elliott.

very entertaining

What a sad existence these people have. I felt really sorry for the little boy who lost his dad in the Falklands war. I guess it just goes to show what boredom, no sense of worth and a bleak future can do for some people. Very sad indeed.

Hard hitting in your face movie of life in the fast lane as a skinhead. the acting was really good and the actor playing the young boy recruitied in with the gang played his part very well excellent movie storyline was good. Not to be missed if you like this type of movie.

Well I didn't really think this was a good movie. It started out interesting, reminding us what life with Thatcher was like. However if you want to see a better movie about youth rebellion and skinheads, watch Romper Stomper.

Excellent movie.

Powerful, emotionally charged movie that I admired and found moving, although not at all entertaining. It was difficult to watch at times with some disturbing characters and situations. It does show how people can be swept up and dangerously influenced by peers when they are lost. The acting is superb throughout and the film really transports you to North England, 1983 in the time of Thatcher. A great achievement and highly recommended - just make sure you're in the right mood for a hard hitting film.

a hard hitting, no holds barred look at the early 80's skin-head "culture" in the UK, through the eyes of a twelve year old searching for a father figure

This is without a doubt one of the best movies of the year. The cast handle the difficult subject matter beautifully, and the young lead iactor s perfect as the bullied, marginalised and fatherless boy desperate to find acceptance and a male to look up to again. Britain during the Fauklands war is drawn as a place of quietly seething discontent, that occasionally bubbles over in brutal fashion - issues of race, gender, class and subculture all play a part, but it is at the intersection of class and ethnicity that things really get messy. This is a movie that will leave you with much to think about - I've already ordered a ordered my own copy! Move this one to the top of your queue.