Re: This Is England

Whoever it was on here who said the film was 'full of racism' missed the point. It was by no means a perfect film and a tad clumsy in places, but to make an affectionate study of a vile but tragic character is not racist but applaudable, because he makes a bloody great job of it.

I thought the film demonstrated a fine line between those who are racist and those who are misguided (the latter of which makes up the majority of those that are turning to the BNP these days.) Combo was portrayed as a man able to mix truth with lies that he himself believed to be true with such conviction that it was impossible not to understand why Shaun would follow him and look up to him as a replacement father figure. Their actions gave the characters a sense of self-purpose under a government where the poor had no place, where Shaun's father had been dispensible in a war the majority of the country didn't want and a sense of community that they had no longer had under Thatcher.

To not depict racists as flat out racists and offer a human portrayal of those who take this route - and that scene where Combo connects on an emotional level with Milky and is torn between hating himself for how he's treated him and resenting him for having everything he has never had is heartbreaking - is the most sensible and mature thing a British film-maker has done in years and not once does he suggest that what they do is right.

Ken Loach has been making great films like this for years; he's more far more talented than Shane Meadows but none of his films have been as important as 'This Is England' ought to be since 'Cathy Come Home' or 'Kes'. It seems racism is branded onto people as an easy way for the government to deal with it, as it saves them from having to tackle the roots of the problem when they can but a face to it and point the finger. The similarities between 1983 and Blair's legacy is shocking.

Posted By: tim berry, May 17, 11:28:27