This is England

July, 1983. Liverpool has just retained the first division football title and The Police and Paul Young top the charts.

But although Britain's stoush with Argentina over the Falklands is now over, 12-year-old Shaun (Thomas Turgoose) has his own battles to fight.

Still smarting from his father's death in that far-off war, he is upset by school-ground taunts. Contemplating a lonely summer ahead, he unexpectedly finds friendship with a group of older boys.

Led by the charismatic Woody (Joe Gilgun), the "gang" belie their intimidating, skinhead appearance, introducing Shaun to a world of parties, first love and Dr Martin boots.

However, the arrival of fresh- from-prison Combo (Stephen Graham) changes the group's dynamics. Raging against the rise of ethnic minorities in Britain, Combo is convinced that something needs to be done to protect the country from "being stolen from underneath our noses".

But while Woody wants nothing to with Combo's cause, the impressionable Shaun is not so sure. Like most of his other features (TwentyFour Seven, Dead Man's Shoes), this film is inspired by writer-director Meadows' own childhood.

Here he creates a palpable sense of time and place through his evocative script, motley cast of characters, a mixture of naturalistic sound and composer Ludovico Einaudi's moody score, as well as spot-on costuming.

As with The Full Monty, Billy Elliot and Brassed Off, this is another stinging drama from that fertile period of social dislocation known as Thatcher's Britain. However, there is no singing-and-dancing feel-good conclusion this time. Instead we have one boy's search for a father figure going horribly wrong.

That boy is superbly played by Turgoose. A deserved winner of the most-promising newcomer award at last year's British Independent Film Awards for his sensitive, honest portrayal, like Sweet Sixteen's Martin Compston and Billy Elliot's Jamie Bell, he is another unlikely but thoroughly impressive talent.

The other major surprise is what you'll learn about skinheads. Previously portrayed cinematically as unthinking, unblinking thugs, This is England shows how the original culture mixed blacks and whites and a shared love of music, rather than a common hatred of others.

This is England
Director: Shane Meadows
Starring: Thomas Turgoose, Joe Gilgun
Rated: R16

Source: stuff.co.nz