DVD - This Is England

Shane Meadows has crept into the consciousness of the American cinema goer like a wolf waiting to strike. For those of us who have been lucky enough to witness even one of his films, we are left feeling like we have witnessed the birth of something very special in the world of film and art. Including This Is England, I have only seen one other Meadows film, the amazing and beautiful revenge drama Dead Man's Shoe's, so, it may be safe to say that I am not the most qualified person to make the above statement, but, I feel like I can make it since, if Meadows simply keeps up that level of filmmaking, he will go down as one of the greats of world cinema, and a powerhouse of English cinema.

This Is England concerns the 1983 world of a young boy named Shaun, who's father has recently passed away in the Faulkland's war. He finds himself alone in a world that is imploding around him. His mother has no clue how to raise him alone, which leads him to act out when people make fun of him, or give him a hard time. One day, on a walk home, Shaun thinks he's picking a fight with a young (traditional) skinhead and his gang. When the skin, Woody, ends up diffusing the argument, Shaun realizes that Woody isn't interested in making fun of him, but, maybe, being his friend. He begins hanging out with a group of traditional skinheads (they differ from Nazi skinheads in that they are not rascists, nor are they, generally, violent), and these folks become his new family.

When one of Woody's old friends, Combo, is released from jail, though, it begins to slice a rift in the group. Combo is a proto-nazi skinhead, a "nationalist", who feels his hate towards the immigrant population is warranted because they are stealing jobs, housing, and "destroying the country". While Woody and much of the rest of the group want nothing to do with Combo, Shaun, young and still upset over the loss of his dad in a war that many felt was pointless, decides to channel his anger into Combo's cause.

This Is England is not just an incredible time capsule of a very interesting time in English history, it can also be seen as a statement on the current situation in the United States. Their are a lot of parallels in the film and what America is going through right now - a war that much of its population doesn't understand, tension about immigration, a disaffected youth culture, and leadership whose popularity is tanking more and more every moment of every day.

Meadows uses his camera to really explore the worlds of his characters, and with seemingly little or no production design, Meadows is able to pull out the very simple world of twenty plus years ago. Of course, with such an established sub-culture as the skins, you don' have to worry about clothes or looks, since they haven't really changed since the late 60's.

Thomas Turgoose gives an incredible performance for such a young kid, and is anchored by great actors, including Stephen Graham, who does an amazing job at portraying the emotional subtleties of the character Combo. Neither Meadows, nor Graham, allow Combo to simply be a one sided, hate-filled character. Meadows finds ways to show how Combo is capable of expressing intricate emotions, and Graham paints them on screen with the soft brush of a master.

If you've never seen Dead Man's Shoes, I wholeheartedly recommend it. This Is England is an incredible follow-up to that film, and, like I said before, if Meadows keeps this up, he will go down as an incredibly skilled artisan.

DVD - Pierrepoint, The Last Hangman

Humanity is known for idolizing and demonizing people, and, occasionally, it's know for doing both to the same person. Pierrepoint, The Last Hangman, is the real life story of Albert Pierrepoint, a man who took on the solemn duty of an executioner, and formed it into a science. We meet Albert as a man who has just begun volunteering for the civic duty of hangman, and see his evolution, as he comes to define the job itself. Pierrepoint can look at a man, or woman, size them up, and know exactly how to hang a noose, so that his prisoners die instantly, and without pain. He does this secretly, often on weekends, while moonlighting during the week as his villages grocer.

When World War II comes to a close, Pierrepoint is asked by one of the top men in the British Army to come to Nuremberg and hang the Nazi's that will be found guilty and sentenced to death for war crimes. Pierrepoint accepts, still hiding his true profession from those around him. Upon his return from Nuremberg, however, a news reporter focuses an article on Pierrepoint and his job as the hangman of the most vilified men of the century, and Pierrepoint becomes a hero to the people of his village (people who were glad to see the Nazi's who were responsible for bombing England hang). Only a few years go by, though, before the tide turns on Pierrepoint, and the people want an end to executions in England. Suddenly, their hangman hero, is now one of the country's most reviled men, having attended to the hanging of some 600+ individuals.

Pierrepoint is a good film. A good film, but not a great film. Unlike most films, it would have been advantageous for the filmmakers to make it a little longer, and add in a little more detail of this man's life. The story takes place over, roughly, twenty years, and, at a lean and mean 90 minutes, we get the point, but not much else.  The film, in my opinion, would have benefitted from seeing an expansion of the storyline between Pierrepoint and his wife. Timothy Spall, as Albert Pierrepoint, plays the consumate English gentleman, a man who doesn't "kiss and tell" about his job, and believes in the sacred duty he is performing. Even when people are singing his praises, after the Nuremberg incident, he is still cautionary, and chooses not to revel in his new found glory.

Overall, Pierrepoint is worth a watch, but I wouldn't rush out to rent it.

Atonement

When I saw the first trailer for Atonement, I thought "Wow, there's a movie I'm not bothering with". I don't know, it just feels like I've seen SO MANY World War 1 and 2 era British love stories. Most of them tend to be long, drawn out, and boring, elliciting sympathy and romantic feelings for characters by using cliche's.

BUT, then it started getting all of these amazing reviews and garnering a bunch of advance awards, so, I became a bandwagon jumper, and bought my ticket. Well, it is safe to say that Atonement was considerably better than I thought it would be.

The story involves three primary characters - Celia Tallis (Keira Knightley), a teen/young adult from a rich family, Robbie Turner (James McAvoy), one of the groundskeepers at the Tallis household, and Briony Tallis (played by multiple actors), Celia's younger sister, who has a talent for writing, and feelings for Robbie. Something has happened between Celia and Robbie, and, when Robbie tries to make it right, Briony realizes that his heart is for Celia, and not for her. Pierrot, Jackson, and Lola, the cousins of Celia and Briony, come to stay with the Tallis's, but their boredom and restlessness lead Pierrot and Jackson to run away. This leads to the evening's dinner party guests to have to break out and search the grounds for the young boys. Before they're found, though, Briony finds Lola being raped by a man who manages to get away before he can be identified. In her anger with Robbie, and his new found connection with Celia, she tells the police that she could positively identify Robbie as the rapist. 

Robbie ends up going to jail, being torn apart from Celia, and causing Briony to retreat into herself. Fast forward a few years, and we meet Robbie, Celia, and Briony in the midst of World War 2. Robbie has been let out of prison to serve England, but is MIA in France, Celia hasn't seen her family in years and is working as a nurse, and Briony is training as a nurse, and is trying to get back in touch with Celia to put things right. 

I can't really say anymore, otherwise too much of the plot would be given away, but, Atonement turned out to be a really well made, well acted film. There were several funny moments in it, which were surprising for this "sub-genre" of film, and the love story between Robbie and Celia was not completely un-original or cliche, though, the relationship between the three of them (Celia, Robbie, and Briony), can, at times, be a little cliche. The way the story is told, by telling Briony's version of certain events, and then showing a completely objective view of events was very interesting, and reiterates how subjective realities can destroy relationships and lives.

Atonement was well worth my two hours, especially at the matinee price. I'm not a huge fan of any of the actors in the film, but they all did a great job. The directing was superb, and the story, especially the last quarter of it, was very well written. Fantastic. And, you definitely want to see it on the big screen. Absolutely beautiful.