This Is England.

Recently, I have been spending a vast majority of time watching This Is England and it's television sequels, '86 and '88.

It would be an understatement to merely say they 'were good.' When, in fact, they are a credit to British Drama and what Britain has to offer in the film making sense.

First of all, Shane Meadows initial idea to explore what Britain was like in 1983, immediately after the effects on the Falklands War and the radical racial views in the society and location it is set in.

For me, this was an incredibly difficult topic to watch, as the language used was vulgar and very hard to digest. However, that is what makes the film so true to life and successful, Meadows isn't scared to show what it most probably was like and this makes the film gritty and very very British with how straightforward it is.

The shots compliment the mise en scene with the setting. There are no special effects or fancy lighting used, it is literally as if you were following the characters around yourself, and this really helps when the camera zooms in on various characters faces during a scene to show the various emotions from them.  

The film itself won Best British Film at the 2007 British Film Academy Awards and the Best Film category at the 2006 British Independent Film Awards.

Thomas Turgoose also won Most Promising Newcomer and was only 13 years old when he took on the role.

It's his performance which really makes the film what it is. How natural and normal he is, which reflects the whole cast. All of the scenes have particular direction to follow, to move it on, but there are pieces of dialogue which seem so natural from the cast, and it seems like their not reading from a script at all, which adds to the realism feature.

Also the performance from Stephen Graham, who plays Combo, in some terms the antagonist, but in this film there is no clear structure of protagonists or antagonists. Graham's performance makes certain scenes difficult to watch, as he acts his part so perfectly, you can almost believe what is going on.

Shane Meadows even broke through the difficult transition from a successful film to a sequel. Some sequels can ruin a film and it's reviews, but the televised '86 and '88 are, in my opinion, the most successful attempts at sequels.    




I hope to take away a wider understanding of the use location and shot types, as these were the most prominent features of the film which stood out to me. 
The simple use of the location, really makes the importance of the storyline and shots clear to the audience. 
I would also like to incorporate the use of the close up and focused shots into my opening sequence as I also think it holds great significance to show the initial and immediate reactions from the actors/characters.