This Is England (2007)

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  Barneyonmovies

  8 / 10

  WHAT I LIKED: Fascism is all about scapegoating the injustices and inequalities people face by blaming other ethnic groups, so it's not hard to see the appeal to some working people. But whilst it's very easy to tackle such ideologies with classist superiority, Shane Meadow's 'This is England,' instead takes a bravely empathetic approach which quietly and crucially paints the real cause of the characters' suffering as broad as daylight.
  
  His (apparently semi-autobiographical) story specifically focuses on a lonely young man called Shaun (Thomas Turgoose) whose father was killed in the Falklands. A group of friendly skinheads take him in, and whilst they're initially a good influence, their leader Combo (Stephen Graham) soon turns up to indoctrinate the more receptive to his world of racism and hatred. This starts with angry meetings and conversations, and escalates to some truly sickening acts of racial violence and abuse. But all the while we also see their economic hardship and isolation, and, when intercut with montages of strikes, politicians, and the Falklands War, the real backdrop of their anger paints them as sorry, blind men who can't see the wood from the trees.
  
  That portrait is only so vivid and empathetic though because Shane Meadows treats everything so naturalistically. The locations are real, the dialogue feels chaotic and unplanned, and the acting - not least Stephen Graham's powerhouse of a performance - is all extremely powerful and true.
  
  WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: There is certainly an argument that these people shouldn't be treated with empathy at all.
  
  VERDICT: 'This is England,' is a bravely honest and empathetic portrait of what drives the working class into the arms of violent fascism.

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