Two Sides of the Same Coin
This Is England is set in the early eighties in a small working-class town somewhere on the east coast of England. Saying it is set in the middle of nowhere wouldn't be far from the truth. We are introduced to Shaun (Thomas Turgoose), a twelve-year-old boy struggling to fit in after moving to a new town and losing his father in the Falkland War. He bumps into a group of skinheads — much older than him — who are kind to him. A nice feeling for a change, after being bullied at school.
Young Shaun becomes a member of the group and changes his whole appearance to match his new friends. The group fills its time with what can generously be called unproductive activities — hanging around, and hunting, which in practice means demolishing abandoned buildings. Still, they seem like decent people looking for somewhere to put their energy. With no structure provided and nobody pointing them in a different direction — who can blame them?
The skinhead subculture was a relatively new concept to me. Growing up in Poland I had not experienced much of it — my only references were strongly distributed stereotypes: that it represents nationalism and racism. This Is England shows two sides of the same coin.
On one side, the original skinhead movement — more about inclusion, mutual respect, and being part of something bigger while remaining an individual. Strongly expressed through fashion: bold, very short hair even amongst women, heavy leather boots, jeans, shirts, and braces. Woody (Joseph Gilgun), Milky (Andrew Shim), Lol (Vicky McClure), Jo (Cynthia Fields), Smell (Rosamund Hanson) — a notably diverse group. On the other side, the stereotype that grew from within the subculture: extremely racist and violent, represented in the film mainly by Combo (Stephen Graham), who re-enters the group after years in prison. It doesn't take long before he issues an ultimatum that divides everything in two. Clearly sociopathic and deeply troubled, he brings disruption and eventually causes tragedy after losing self-control.
The more shocking and depraving story always sticks to mind — and so skinheads as a whole subculture were labelled by society as an intolerant, aggressive bunch. Like most labels, it missed almost everything.
I found This Is England an entertaining film that gave me perspective on England in the eighties — the decade of unevenly distributed wealth, when the poor got poorer and the rich got richer, of working-class struggles and strikes. I couldn't quite reach my own sentiments while watching, because my childhood was very different. In retrospect, though, I do feel some connection — particularly through the strikes themselves. In the eighties, Poland was fighting against Soviet influence. Working-class strikes, led by Lech Wałęsa and the union Solidarity, ultimately brought an end to communism in Poland and a Nobel Peace Prize to the man himself. The specific details differ enormously. The underlying story — of ordinary people pushed too far — is the same.
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