This film, directed by Shane Meadows, tells the story of young boy growing up in blue-collar England in 1983. He is an army brat who lands in a British seaside city, bullied at school and without friends. He finds refuge, however, in the company of a local group of affable skinheads. In 1983 England, skinheads were not defined by racism, as they are now. The skinhead movement apparently began in the late 60s and 70s as a youth movement. Open to all races, it was intended to unite the working class against the aristocratic English upper-class. Reggae and soul music were central themes. The early 80s saw a transformation in ideology from a working class movement to a "native English" working class movement, to a white supremacist movment. Shaun, the film's protagonist, unwittingly gets caught in this transformation.
Great flick. Thomas Turgoose, who played Shaun, was awesome. Check it out.
http://www.thisisenglandmovie.co.uk/#/home/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0480025/
1 comment:
The skinhead movement started for me in the early to mid 80s. It reached fruition in the early aughts. It coincided with the silver-white movement. It also revolved around reggae, along with some 60s, early 70s, and new wave 80s. The rage associated with the movement was blunted by beer therapy, along with multiple blender drink sessions. The duration was deep, dark, and heady, much like the Guinness that helped get me through it. Anyway, I survived, and thrived. Cheers!
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