This Is England - To Call Truth, To Follow Truth
Thoughts On: This Is England (2005)
A young boy falls into a group of skinheads.
This Is England is quite possibly a masterpiece. It takes Shane Meadows' realist sensibilities, which are founded in a sort of play or game before the camera and a play with life itself, and uses them to explore the turbulence underlying British culture in the early 80s - more specifically, 1983. This is a time characterised by Thatcher, war and the development of social schemes such as the 'Right to Buy'. Furthermore, this is a time before the abolishment of corporal punishment in schools. This, whilst a minor detail, is interesting to note as This Is England follows a young boy lost in a rather brutal childhood; his father died in war and he is picked on in school, which, we could understand, easily paints 'the system' around this boy as oppressive and unjust. The only reprieve he finds is in young skinheads, who provide him friendship and protection. However, whilst he initially tangles with some loud and boisterous rebels, he is lead on to join a smaller group of nationalist skinheads who represent a far more insidious manifestation of rebellion.
What the first half of this narrative encapsulates, and what entirely possesses its snowballing journey towards tragedy, is a sense of alienation and weakness. This hangs over more than just a boy who loses his father and is picked on. Alienation hung over parts of England in the 80s due to the almost ludicrous Falklands War and simultaneous political change. To stay with the Falklands War, this was a very short engagement that lasted less than 3 months over a small island, and was fought between England and Argentina, both claiming to own it. It was a symbolic dispute that, for the British government, seemingly represented a refusal to fully let go of what was the British Empire. In some, the British victory inspired feelings of patriotism. However, what is represented by This Is England is a sense of being lied to. Alas, patriotism, or rather, nationalism, remains and, as is shown in this film, it leads to the hijacking of a 'skinhead culture'. This is then where patriotism fuels a turn against British politics and social change; changes such as the Right to Buy, which allowed citizens living in council-owned homes to buy the property they lived in at a reduced price. This was perceived by some to support immigrants alone, giving them a pathway and assistance to, as the sentiment follows, "take over"; "take our jobs, take our homes, take our country".
This perspective, the nationalist perspective, is one that Meadows sees played out. He documents the espousal of so-called 'truths' and tests these truths by seeing them acted out. And such is what, I believe, is and should be centralised in this film; it is all about how people speak and the action that follows. As a spectator, it is our position that allows us to see the true nature of certain 'truths' in the actions they cause. And in doing this, we see a rather powerful parallel drawn with Christian legend that is encapsulated rather succinctly in the English flag;
This flag represents St. George's cross. Put as simply and directly as possible, Saint George was a Roman soldier who refused to denounce his Christian faith, and thus died in the name of Christ a martyr. In seeing this, the Roman Empress of the time converted to Christianity and the word of Christ was strengthened.
The cross itself, as we all know, is symbolic of Jesus' sacrifice. To pick apart this symbol, it is best to turn to the idea of speech. It was God in the bible that calls light and goodness into existence with his words. It was Jesus who also tried to call goodness into existence with his speech. However, darkness overcome light, and Jesus was killed for his speech. However, it is death, it is Jesus refusing to speak a lie and to denounce truth, that truly saw his words take effect. And so this is what the cross represents; suffering for the sake of genuine truth that is spoken into the world - St. George's cross shows a continuation of this tradition, centralising sacrifice through the blood-red colouration.
The two-fold question that This Is England asks with the English flag as its central symbol is if its characters are able to sacrifice for their truth, furthermore, if their sacrifice is good and true. The only way in which to determine if a sacrifice is good, however, is to initially speak genuine truth. If the sacrifice is borne of a lie, of darkness, sacrifice becomes tragedy.
Without needing to delve any further into these ideas and this narrative, I must end here with the note that I cannot recommend this movie more if you have not seen it. However, if you have seen This Is England, what are your thoughts?
Previous post:
Alcestis - The Hospitable Fool
Next post:
Every Year In Film #37 - Making A Living
More from me:
amazon.com/author/danielslack
A young boy falls into a group of skinheads.
This Is England is quite possibly a masterpiece. It takes Shane Meadows' realist sensibilities, which are founded in a sort of play or game before the camera and a play with life itself, and uses them to explore the turbulence underlying British culture in the early 80s - more specifically, 1983. This is a time characterised by Thatcher, war and the development of social schemes such as the 'Right to Buy'. Furthermore, this is a time before the abolishment of corporal punishment in schools. This, whilst a minor detail, is interesting to note as This Is England follows a young boy lost in a rather brutal childhood; his father died in war and he is picked on in school, which, we could understand, easily paints 'the system' around this boy as oppressive and unjust. The only reprieve he finds is in young skinheads, who provide him friendship and protection. However, whilst he initially tangles with some loud and boisterous rebels, he is lead on to join a smaller group of nationalist skinheads who represent a far more insidious manifestation of rebellion.
What the first half of this narrative encapsulates, and what entirely possesses its snowballing journey towards tragedy, is a sense of alienation and weakness. This hangs over more than just a boy who loses his father and is picked on. Alienation hung over parts of England in the 80s due to the almost ludicrous Falklands War and simultaneous political change. To stay with the Falklands War, this was a very short engagement that lasted less than 3 months over a small island, and was fought between England and Argentina, both claiming to own it. It was a symbolic dispute that, for the British government, seemingly represented a refusal to fully let go of what was the British Empire. In some, the British victory inspired feelings of patriotism. However, what is represented by This Is England is a sense of being lied to. Alas, patriotism, or rather, nationalism, remains and, as is shown in this film, it leads to the hijacking of a 'skinhead culture'. This is then where patriotism fuels a turn against British politics and social change; changes such as the Right to Buy, which allowed citizens living in council-owned homes to buy the property they lived in at a reduced price. This was perceived by some to support immigrants alone, giving them a pathway and assistance to, as the sentiment follows, "take over"; "take our jobs, take our homes, take our country".
This perspective, the nationalist perspective, is one that Meadows sees played out. He documents the espousal of so-called 'truths' and tests these truths by seeing them acted out. And such is what, I believe, is and should be centralised in this film; it is all about how people speak and the action that follows. As a spectator, it is our position that allows us to see the true nature of certain 'truths' in the actions they cause. And in doing this, we see a rather powerful parallel drawn with Christian legend that is encapsulated rather succinctly in the English flag;
This flag represents St. George's cross. Put as simply and directly as possible, Saint George was a Roman soldier who refused to denounce his Christian faith, and thus died in the name of Christ a martyr. In seeing this, the Roman Empress of the time converted to Christianity and the word of Christ was strengthened.
The cross itself, as we all know, is symbolic of Jesus' sacrifice. To pick apart this symbol, it is best to turn to the idea of speech. It was God in the bible that calls light and goodness into existence with his words. It was Jesus who also tried to call goodness into existence with his speech. However, darkness overcome light, and Jesus was killed for his speech. However, it is death, it is Jesus refusing to speak a lie and to denounce truth, that truly saw his words take effect. And so this is what the cross represents; suffering for the sake of genuine truth that is spoken into the world - St. George's cross shows a continuation of this tradition, centralising sacrifice through the blood-red colouration.
The two-fold question that This Is England asks with the English flag as its central symbol is if its characters are able to sacrifice for their truth, furthermore, if their sacrifice is good and true. The only way in which to determine if a sacrifice is good, however, is to initially speak genuine truth. If the sacrifice is borne of a lie, of darkness, sacrifice becomes tragedy.
Without needing to delve any further into these ideas and this narrative, I must end here with the note that I cannot recommend this movie more if you have not seen it. However, if you have seen This Is England, what are your thoughts?
Previous post:
Alcestis - The Hospitable Fool
Next post:
Every Year In Film #37 - Making A Living
More from me:
amazon.com/author/danielslack
