Hatrack River Forum: This Is England

This is topic This Is England in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.

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Posted by GaalDornick (Member # 8880) on :

Has anyone else here seen this movie? I just saw it and it's now one of my most favorite movies ever. It's the only movie that's ever made me cry. [Embarrassed]

Here is a synopsis from wikipedia:

quote:

The story focuses on young Shaun (Thomas Turgoose), who, following bullying at school, falls in with a bunch of likeable skinheads. The new-found freedom and social acceptance he finds is short-lived, and takes a much darker turn when National Front member Combo returns from jail and reasserts his leadership, which splits the group in two. What follows is an often disturbing view of 1980s England offset by the ramifications of the Falklands War and the rise of white nationalism.

And here's a trailer.

The characters in it are all amazing and 100% realistic. I can't recommend this movie enough.

I hope some of you have seen it because I want to talk about it. [Smile]

Posted by Shanna (Member # 7900) on :

I saw it last week. Debated about making a post here about it but I was still too upset to really digest the movie.

I thought the acting was amazing. The commitment was there every second and I was completely drawn in. The young boy in the lead role...just WOW. To watch his ascent and descent was incredible.

Some things were abit weird. I found the scenes with "Smell" alittle uncomfortable to watch though she was quite a sweet and funny character.

I don't want to give away the ending because I want more people to go out and see it, but I will say that it was very powerful. I had to close my laptop a couple of times.

Posted by GaalDornick (Member # 8880) on :

"I found the scenes with "Smell" alittle uncomfortable to watch though she was quite a sweet and funny character."

Agreed. But I guess that's just a difference in culture (British skinheads vs Americans). The kid was an amazing actor and he had an incredible role. My favorite actor in the film was the guy who played Milky. He was perfect.

And the ending...oh man...I won't spoil it either, but that one scene at the end (you probably know which one I'm talking about) was so realistic and gave me a rollercoaster of emotions. Even if the rest of the movie sucked, that one scene would've made it a great movie.

Posted by Fitz (Member # 4803) on :

Amazing movie. That scene near the end was just perfect in so many ways. Stephen Graham (Combo) gave one of the most powerful performances I've ever seen on film. I will definitely be recommending this one to everyone I know.

Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :

Not around here yet, but I saw a trailer of it before Sunshine. It's amazing how you never even hear about some movies unless you hit the small indie theater.

Anyway, it looks..disturbing, but interesting. I plan to see it if I can.

On the outset, it looked a bit, just a bit, like American History X, British style.

Posted by Sterling (Member # 8096) on :

"300" has been out of theaters for more than a month and I'm still resisting the temptation to make "THIS... IS... SPARTAAAAAA!" jokes.

Posted by 0Megabyte (Member # 8624) on :

Why are you resisting?

Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :

Sounds quite similar to American History X but obviously with some significant plot differences. I'm very interested in seeing it.

Posted by GaalDornick (Member # 8880) on :

""300" has been out of theaters for more than a month and I'm still resisting the temptation to make "THIS... IS... SPARTAAAAAA!" jokes."

I thought the same thing, but more like: "Madness?...THIS...IS...ENGLAAAAAAAND!!!" [Big Grin]

This movie is better than American History X, IMO. This one had better characters and was more interesting to me since I never knew too much about skinheads and the different kinds of skinheads.

Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :

That's high praise, I was blown away when I first saw AHX.

Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :

Maybe I will put it on Demand

It's about 6 bucks.

Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :

I refused to see AHX for over a yezr because of the subject meterial. I figured I would hate it.

Then I saw an interview on Larry King with Ed Nortaon, and I was completely blow away by it. I don't really care much anout celebraties.....I am usually not impressed at all, and couldn't care less about who they are and what they do. But Ed Norton was highly articulate, intelligent, and his interview was one of the more thought provoking interivews I have ever seen.

So I watched the movie....and it was so powerful it blew me away. It is one of the best movies I have ever seen.

If you say This Is England is similar, that is high praise indeed.

Posted by dantesparadigm (Member # 8756) on :

American History X was one of the most powerful films I've ever seen, so when the comparison was made I had to give this a watch. I don't know if it was better, but the whole thing just felt so real and the acting was incredible, I'll be recommending this to everyone I can find. It's go to know that there are still movies being made that aren't pointless remakes or uncalled for sequels.

Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :

AMX was a good movie, but it was painful to watch and made me scared.

This is England was also good, but it was frustrating. Where was the parental supervision?