This is England is a socialist realist film which is a more stylised version of England in 1980s. During the 1980s Margret Thatcher was prime minister and the Falkland war was going on. The film follows Shawn, a young boy who lost his dad in the Falkland war and is bullied at school. A group of skinheads, their leader being Woody takes him which causes tensions within the group. Everything was well until Combo, Woody’s old friend comes back from prison with a racist ideology which he has gained from the British Nationalist Party. Woody refuses to fight the so called war with Combo against foreigners however Shawn is convinced as he doesn’t want to let down his dad who died in the war. Combo and his group spray paint racist messages on walls and rob shops. All this hate is then directed to close to home with Combo beating Milky up with Shawn there.
I really liked this film as it portrays what the 80s were like in England with social divisions due to the Falklands war that many felt was unnecessary and a waste of life.
Abigail Armstrong's Film Studies Blog 