― What is wrong with your face?, Wednesday, 21 March 2007 15:23 (seventeen years ago) link
― Mark G, Wednesday, 21 March 2007 15:28 (seventeen years ago) link
― Marcello Carlin, Wednesday, 21 March 2007 16:37 (seventeen years ago) link
― Mark G, Wednesday, 21 March 2007 17:02 (seventeen years ago) link
― stevie, Wednesday, 2 May 2007 12:05 (sixteen years ago) link
― Colonel Poo, Wednesday, 2 May 2007 12:21 (sixteen years ago) link
― stevie, Wednesday, 2 May 2007 12:29 (sixteen years ago) link
― Anna, Wednesday, 2 May 2007 12:50 (sixteen years ago) link
― blueski, Wednesday, 2 May 2007 12:52 (sixteen years ago) link
― admrl, Wednesday, 2 May 2007 16:52 (sixteen years ago) link
― creme1, Wednesday, 2 May 2007 18:31 (sixteen years ago) link
― stevie, Thursday, 3 May 2007 10:58 (sixteen years ago) link
― titchyschneiderMk2, Thursday, 3 May 2007 11:20 (sixteen years ago) link
― Tom D., Thursday, 3 May 2007 11:21 (sixteen years ago) link
― titchyschneiderMk2, Thursday, 3 May 2007 11:33 (sixteen years ago) link
― admrl, Thursday, 3 May 2007 15:50 (sixteen years ago) link
― Dr Morbius, Thursday, 3 May 2007 16:04 (sixteen years ago) link
― stevie, Thursday, 3 May 2007 16:39 (sixteen years ago) link
― angle of d..., Thursday, 3 May 2007 18:26 (sixteen years ago) link
― CarsmileSteve, Thursday, 3 May 2007 20:59 (sixteen years ago) link
― klankton, Friday, 4 May 2007 15:25 (sixteen years ago) link
this was good but not nearly as great as dead man's shoes
― creme1, Monday, 21 May 2007 11:08 (sixteen years ago) link
I've just had someone recommend that to me.
Saw TisE and thought the kid was great. Decent cast, very good at racheting up the old tension, class soundtrack. Perhaps a few too many slow motion scenes as they walk along and a bit cheesy at points but otherwise well worth watching.
― kv_nol, Monday, 21 May 2007 11:13 (sixteen years ago) link
Huge disappointment for me. Plodding setting of scene (from "The Rock And Roll Year" credits sequence onwards). Pre-Combo section was very uncertain - scenes of the gang hanging out felt awkward and nervously acted (bad improvisation at work?). All a bit Children's Film Foundation. Didn't think Thomas Turgoose was half as good as all the hype - I've seen many kids act much more naturally.
Combo's arrival put a rocket under the film and he was at the centre of that quite brilliant section, running from Lol rejecting him to getting stoned with Milky and losing it, all so layed with complexity and tension so lacking for much of the film. Though all the "what have you done?" and crying at the end should have been cut.
And then it kind of ruined it all with that godawful Please Please Please cover playing over the end sequence, which really needed to have no music at all. Then the flag-discarding might even have worked.
― Alba, Monday, 21 May 2007 11:37 (sixteen years ago) link
Blimey Lol was gorgeous though.
the girls all looked amazing, especially lol.
― stevie, Monday, 21 May 2007 12:06 (sixteen years ago) link
the characters seemed very real to me, too. i grew up with kids like this.
― stevie, Monday, 21 May 2007 12:07 (sixteen years ago) link
this was a great, great film. i think they could have cut it earlier too (after combo and shaun leave with milky), but i definitely would have kept everything up to their exit. the last shot was lovely though.
i thought the acting was so great. amazing how much i liked Woody. his character and performance was just so roundly charismatic.
― sean gramophone, Saturday, 21 July 2007 02:57 (sixteen years ago) link
I saw this in london. It was very good.
― admrl, Saturday, 21 July 2007 04:34 (sixteen years ago) link
Percy Sledge "Dark End Of The Street" couldn't get permission for James Carr hyuk hyuk
The Percy Sledge version is better!
― admrl, Thursday, 26 July 2007 21:55 (sixteen years ago) link
EVEN better - Diamanda Galas' version.
(Dark End Of The Street may be my favourite song)
i agree - that shitty shitty smiths cover at the end was awful, not sure even that beach/flag scene needed to be there. the part after milky was killed was overplayed too. i didnt think was that great a 'film' personally - i like the idea and the fact it was about what skinheads really meant etc and tried to capture that period but as a film i just thought it became more about combo/skinheads/racism than the kid/his growth, etc.
i think i should probably watch it again though.
― titchyschneiderMk2, Friday, 27 July 2007 11:09 (sixteen years ago) link
You probably should: Milky wasn't killed.
― Mark G, Monday, 5 November 2007 11:57 (sixteen years ago) link
Great film! Saw it again tonight.
― the next grozart, Wednesday, 20 February 2008 23:21 (sixteen years ago) link
So, is the whole idea behind this film something like "Skinheads were alright because they looked cool in Ben Sherman and Doc Martens, but just don't kick anyone's head in because it'll turn you into Thatcher. PS - war is bad."?
It's making my head hurt trying to figure out if I actually like it or not. Which probably means it's succeeded no matter what I think, right?
― James Mitchell, Tuesday, 1 July 2008 22:16 (fifteen years ago) link
keep missing this. 'made in britain' is like my favourite film about britain ever so i'm not really gonna be a fair judge.
― banriquit, Tuesday, 1 July 2008 22:19 (fifteen years ago) link
-- Mark G, Monday, November 5, 2007 11:57 AM (7 months ago) Bookmark Link
I think I need to watch it again as well because I'm sure that this is not at all clear.
― Ned Trifle II, Tuesday, 1 July 2008 22:28 (fifteen years ago) link
Didn't think Thomas Turgoose was half as good as all the hype - I've seen many kids act much more naturally.
Also I have to protest this, while I'm here like. I thought he was fantastic.
― Ned Trifle II, Tuesday, 1 July 2008 22:32 (fifteen years ago) link
God, this film is an absolute, almost totally unredeemed pile of generic, formulaic, ugly, repulsive, boring crap.
― the pinefox, Sunday, 12 October 2008 23:59 (fifteen years ago) link
Is there any relation to Alan Clarke's Made in Britain? I thought that's what everyone was talking about through most of this thread.
― circa1916, Monday, 13 October 2008 04:08 (fifteen years ago) link
just saw this, thought it was amazing - very smart, very nuanced.
― NOT FUNNY NEEDS MORE CGI (jjjusten), Wednesday, 11 August 2010 16:33 (thirteen years ago) link
Loved whole movie. Watched it by myself on a plane (on ipod). Can't remember if my seatmate was alarmed by the maniacal giggling to myself, straight into hiccupy crying.
― Jesus doesn't want me for a thundercloud (Laurel), Wednesday, 11 August 2010 16:41 (thirteen years ago) link
oh and peeps upthread saying that the child actor wasnt all that great, u r crazy - his first film role also btw
― NOT FUNNY NEEDS MORE CGI (jjjusten), Wednesday, 11 August 2010 16:46 (thirteen years ago) link
http://jawkdna.com/myspace/thisisengland86.01.jpg
TV series starts next tuesday. potentially very interesting esp. considering meadows is at the helm.
Milky is in this but i thought he died in the film?
― jed_, Tuesday, 31 August 2010 22:51 (thirteen years ago) link
Nah, Milky, although badly hurt from the beating, did survive in the film.
― unpredictable johnny rodz, Wednesday, 1 September 2010 07:42 (thirteen years ago) link
If you check the cast profiles on the Channel 4 microsite, you can see that they've given Andrew Shim (Milky) a load of prosthetic scarring to reflect the events of the film. I *love* the film, really looking fwd to this.
― Bill A, Wednesday, 1 September 2010 07:46 (thirteen years ago) link
yeah i really liked this film too. i wonder how this will work out.
― village idiot (dog latin), Wednesday, 1 September 2010 10:54 (thirteen years ago) link
there was definitely a lot of darkness in the film but it was the fun that has stayed with me. it should be good for no other reason than to show some unconventional young people in a positive light - a counterpoint, hopefully, to the hollyoaks & celeb culture that's so depressing. it's a shame we have to go back to '86 for that.
― jed_, Wednesday, 1 September 2010 11:57 (thirteen years ago) link
maybe this is something Prematurely Aged Snarky Englanders can get behind
― conrad, Wednesday, 1 September 2010 12:00 (thirteen years ago) link
I wonder if they'll all go raving at some point?
I read an interview with Meadows where he said he'd like to revisit the characters again in 1990 and give his take on rave culture.
― Number None, Wednesday, 8 September 2010 22:24 (thirteen years ago) link
Still a bit Skins-y but still a good show in my book!
― village idiot (dog latin), Tuesday, 14 September 2010 22:05 (thirteen years ago) link
This is Shit
― Number None, Saturday, 18 September 2010 02:37 (thirteen years ago) link
'86
I'm an unapologetic Meadows stan but the second episode of this genuinely felt like a chore. Incredibly cliched writing, sub-par acting and a complete lack of the energy that animated the original film.
― Number None, Saturday, 18 September 2010 02:40 (thirteen years ago) link
Meadows directed episode just then was exponentially better than the first two.
― Bill A, Tuesday, 21 September 2010 22:15 (thirteen years ago) link
Much more exciting (and infinitely more harrowing) than the first two eps. This show's fully kicked in. The emotional pile-up at the end was like driving past 5 car crashes.
― village idiot (dog latin), Wednesday, 22 September 2010 09:34 (thirteen years ago) link
Holy balls, that was dark. I think that one scene was one of the most depressing things I've ever watched. Totally believable, and you could see it coming too, but that didn't change how shocking and horrible it was.
― jesper olsen twins (NickB), Thursday, 23 September 2010 09:07 (thirteen years ago) link
Other than that, I'm kind of intrigued by the Kirk Brandon-ish character. He's a type I recognise from the older kids at my school, but one that I could never quite figure out. What sort of scene would someone like that have belonged to? Did they have a name? Seems to be some kind of goth/psychobilly hybrid.
― jesper olsen twins (NickB), Thursday, 23 September 2010 09:19 (thirteen years ago) link
grebo?
― Michael B, Thursday, 23 September 2010 09:21 (thirteen years ago) link
Seems to be some kind of goth/psychobilly hybrid
Lot of them about in the 80s!
― Tom A. (Tom B.) (Tom C.) (Tom D.), Thursday, 23 September 2010 09:21 (thirteen years ago) link
Grebo
There's a thread on this somewhere
― Tom A. (Tom B.) (Tom C.) (Tom D.), Thursday, 23 September 2010 09:22 (thirteen years ago) link
grebo's came a bit later though didnt they?
― Michael B, Thursday, 23 September 2010 09:22 (thirteen years ago) link
There kind of smelly/crusty and hippyish, whereas the goth/pychobilly kids were quite flash and stylish
― Tom A. (Tom B.) (Tom C.) (Tom D.), Thursday, 23 September 2010 09:23 (thirteen years ago) link
Yeah, grebo was 87/88-ish. Bands like GBOA and Crazyhead, with long hair and shit.
― jesper olsen twins (NickB), Thursday, 23 September 2010 09:24 (thirteen years ago) link
http://media.daemonstv.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/this-is-england-86-cast-550x332.jpg
Think the guy I'm talking about is Harvey.
― jesper olsen twins (NickB), Thursday, 23 September 2010 09:27 (thirteen years ago) link
Maybe he's not so goth really, I just got thrown by the Theatre of Hate t-shirts and the Billy Duffy-ish haircut.
― jesper olsen twins (NickB), Thursday, 23 September 2010 09:32 (thirteen years ago) link
yeah, and what about the scooter gang in the tracksuits - was there a name for these kinds of dudes? my knowledge of 85-88 British subcultures is really lacking, which is why i find this show quite compelling.
― village idiot (dog latin), Thursday, 23 September 2010 11:13 (thirteen years ago) link
I think the scooter guys are maybe low-end casuals, but they sort of grade in to being yer average townie oik.
― jesper olsen twins (NickB), Thursday, 23 September 2010 11:23 (thirteen years ago) link
Ex-mods?
― Tom A. (Tom B.) (Tom C.) (Tom D.), Thursday, 23 September 2010 11:25 (thirteen years ago) link
Don't think so, most of them looked too young to be ex- anything much.
― jesper olsen twins (NickB), Thursday, 23 September 2010 11:31 (thirteen years ago) link
Pretty sure Mods wouldn't ride fizzies.
― Flint Baths (useless chamber), Thursday, 23 September 2010 11:35 (thirteen years ago) link
http://www.80scasualclassics.co.uk/images/www.80scasualclassics.co.uk/Image/this%20is%20engalnd%20bike%20gang%20shot.JPG
http://www.80scasualclassics.co.uk/images/www.80scasualclassics.co.uk/Image/this%20is%20england%20casual%20leader.JPG
― jesper olsen twins (NickB), Thursday, 23 September 2010 11:36 (thirteen years ago) link
I think the little thug leader is one of the funniest performances on TV right now.
"ENGINES.... OFF!""Hairdryers Off!"
― village idiot (dog latin), Thursday, 23 September 2010 11:36 (thirteen years ago) link
http://www.80scasualclassics.co.uk/80s-casual-classics-the-firm-the-business-this-is-england-86-hanna-5247.html
― jesper olsen twins (NickB), Thursday, 23 September 2010 11:37 (thirteen years ago) link
http://www.80scasualclassics.co.uk/images/www.80scasualclassics.co.uk/Image/this%20is%20england%20spear.JPG
^ here's the Kirk Brandon dude, they've really got that look nailed. Still don't know what it's called though.
― jesper olsen twins (NickB), Thursday, 23 September 2010 11:39 (thirteen years ago) link
Needs a fringe jacket though.
― jesper olsen twins (NickB), Thursday, 23 September 2010 11:40 (thirteen years ago) link
Oh right, mopeds not scooters (xxp)
― Tom A. (Tom B.) (Tom C.) (Tom D.), Thursday, 23 September 2010 11:40 (thirteen years ago) link
here's the Kirk Brandon dude, they've really got that look nailed. Still don't know what it's called though.
Spear of Destiny fan? Just a kinda indie kid really? Not really a subculture as such.
― Tom A. (Tom B.) (Tom C.) (Tom D.), Thursday, 23 September 2010 11:42 (thirteen years ago) link
yeah - it's a kind of George Michael-meets-Morissey kinda look right?
― village idiot (dog latin), Thursday, 23 September 2010 11:45 (thirteen years ago) link
Not sure he'd have been much of a Wham! fan, but I suppose there is something a bit Smiths-y (esp. Andy Rourke) about him.
― jesper olsen twins (NickB), Thursday, 23 September 2010 11:53 (thirteen years ago) link
Would probably have been into early Cult, Killing Joke, the Damned, that sort of thing.
― jesper olsen twins (NickB), Thursday, 23 September 2010 11:54 (thirteen years ago) link
He wears a Cramps t-shirt a lot too.
― a fucking stove just fell on my foot. (Colonel Poo), Thursday, 23 September 2010 12:22 (thirteen years ago) link
The Moped Lads are just what were known where I grew up as "kevs" aren't they? Or basically "yer average townie oik".
I do remember kids revving those kind of bikes up and down the street when I were a lad. I wasn't really aware of pop culture in 1986 though, I was 10.
― a fucking stove just fell on my foot. (Colonel Poo), Thursday, 23 September 2010 12:24 (thirteen years ago) link
Hmmm, kind of a disappointing final episode there. Plausibility hacked to death with a rusty clawhammer.
― Harrison Buttwhistle (NickB), Wednesday, 29 September 2010 09:06 (thirteen years ago) link
Is this better than the film? Thought that was awful music vs thatcher simplistic rubbish.
― I see what this is (Local Garda), Wednesday, 29 September 2010 09:53 (thirteen years ago) link
Not as good as the film imo. Like the film, it built towards this one horrible, disturbing scene, but the whole way the narrative was resolved after that was just plain silly. Quite good on 80's youth cult detail though.
― Harrison Buttwhistle (NickB), Wednesday, 29 September 2010 10:06 (thirteen years ago) link
Boo hiss, plausability! I definitely didn't see the twist coming at the end with Combo. Great episode, and very challenging TV. I felt like I'd done all the rides at Thorpe Park after watching it. That said, they didn't really seem to wrap up some of the other narrative strands too well and by the end the other plot points had become eclipsed by the evil Dad vs Lol/Combo storyline. There didn't seem to be much point in Woody gathering up all his mates to propose to Lol in the end, but maybe this was created to distract from the twist in the tale.
― village idiot (dog latin), Wednesday, 29 September 2010 10:09 (thirteen years ago) link
Awful music Ronan?
Could have done without hearing Billy Bragg last night, that's for sure.
― Harrison Buttwhistle (NickB), Wednesday, 29 September 2010 10:18 (thirteen years ago) link
House remix:
http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/30/this-is-england-90-exclusive-trailer-shane-meadows
― feargal czukay (NickB), Friday, 31 July 2015 16:30 (eight years ago) link
Meadows is such a hack and as terrible as his movies are this type of nostalgia shit is probably amongst his worst crimes.
― xelab, Friday, 31 July 2015 17:19 (eight years ago) link
Meadows does have hacky qualities it's true, and yes there is a thick layer of nostalgia with all the youth culture stuff, but even while i liked it on that level, at the same time that last series was some of the grimmest, most horrifying drama i think I've ever seen on tv. A hell of a prformance from Vicky McClure too
― feargal czukay (NickB), Friday, 31 July 2015 20:47 (eight years ago) link
Wait I might be getting my series mixed up - have mostly forgotten what happened in 88
― feargal czukay (NickB), Friday, 31 July 2015 20:50 (eight years ago) link
Throughout history idealised peasants is often the worst art, would equally apply that criticism to Millet or to some of the Ken Loach cannon. But fucking Meadows really pisses me off even more for some reason. I'm sorry for disagreeing Nick, but his TV work is even more abject than his movies to me, horrifying in a different way to me.
― xelab, Friday, 31 July 2015 21:07 (eight years ago) link
haven't watched much meadows (dead man's shoes, this is England [the film]), but does he idealize peasants? certainly not in the loach manner, i.e. didactic social-realism, where the poor characters are intelligent, or preternaturally gifted, or committed to the political advancement of their class, they're foiled by the crushing system which refuses to recognize their brilliance, or seeks outright to extinguish it. i don't see this, iirc, in meadows.
― corbyn's gallus (jim in glasgow), Friday, 31 July 2015 21:13 (eight years ago) link
No he frames them in some other equally restrictive and boring manner.
― xelab, Friday, 31 July 2015 21:17 (eight years ago) link
my abiding memory of this is England is how deeply weirded out I was by a scene in which an actress who looks to be pushing 20 makes out with the small boy protagonist o_0
― corbyn's gallus (jim in glasgow), Friday, 31 July 2015 21:18 (eight years ago) link
was he wearing a The Jam t-shirt or a Happy Mondays one? That is the difference between whatever garbage he is making.
― xelab, Friday, 31 July 2015 21:25 (eight years ago) link
im enjoying this meadows hate
― corbyn's gallus (jim in glasgow), Friday, 31 July 2015 21:32 (eight years ago) link