In my opinion, the film wasn’t that great and the only reason I’m giving it a 4.5 and not a 4 is because the dialogue alone was hilarious – intentional or not. I enjoyed the news clips and montages which indicated the time period, such as clips of Princess Diana’s wedding. I didn’t enjoy the score because it didn’t blend well with the scenes, making it hard to take anything seriously.
My favourite sequence in the film is when Shaun first goes into the corner shop, Sandhu’s News, and is reading through a comic book which he hasn’t purchased yet, obviously the shopkeeper doesn’t like this so he asks Shaun repeatedly to leave, which leads up to the funniest piece of dialogue in this film. “Cola Cubes.” And again. “Cola Cubes.” The delivery from Thomas Turgoose adds to the comedic feel of this sequence.
Critical Score8.5/10 I gave the film this score because not only was I thoroughly invested in all the characters throughout the entire film- especially Sean and his development- I also loved how accurately the film seemed to depict British culture with the dialogue, setting and mise en scene. I also liked how the film included the aspect of British politics around the time frame it was set, and how they used montages at the beginning and the end to explain the politics and helped establish verisimilitude.
Memorable Scene My favourite scene is the very last one at the end of the film where Sean takes the same walk that he took at the beginning of the film, except this time he has changed as a person and gone through a lot. The audience can tell that he is reflecting over all that had happened to him, and it’s a deep moment when he throws the flag of England that Combo gave him into the ocean; this reflects his feelings about the country he lives in and the anger he may feel. And this all happens with a cover song from the British band The Smiths “Please please please let me get what I want.” playing in the back which adds more emotional depth to the moment.
I think this is the best film we have watched so far, as it does doesn’t do much wrong. In my personal opinion, the shots of the group walking towards the camera, though essential to show how Shaun’s friends are changing, are somewhat corny and for me don’t fit into the overall tone of the film. However, pretty much everything else is executed to a very high standard. There isn’t a bad performance by the cast, and the performance of Stephen Graham as the psychopathic Combo is certainly a memorable one for myself and most likely the audience as well. The use of montage to set the time period is extremely captivating and well executed, and the Tarantino style ‘Jukebox’ soundtrack is not only very well chosen, but pushes forward the emotional impact of certain scenes very well, such as the scene in which Combo nearly kills Milky. An overall extremely enjoyable experience and a very well made film.
Memorable Scene
The most memorable scene for me has got to be when Combo kills Milky, as for me it finally confirmed his psychotic and unstable nature and disgusting attitudes towards other fellow human beings. The intimate close up on Combo’s shows how he goes from cheerful and talking to Milky about his family and how he could come round for dinner, to berating Milky with racial insults and then beating him to the brink of death. The moment that really sticks out for me is when he gets Shaun to help him haul Milky’s beaten body out of the room and he’s telling to not cry and be ‘a real man’, which just confirms to me his lack of empathy and most likely his lack of education.
I really enjoyed this movie as you had to really listen to what was being said and what was happening. I enjoyed seeing all the camera work and dialogue even though there wasn’t much cinematography, it was a great movie. This is England is an extremely grotty and wretched movie. this is a lot of violence and blood and as I’ve said before I don’t condone any of those as it is disgusting but other than that I was entertained by this movie.
My most memorable moment was when Shaun threw the England flag into the sea. I believe that this was a detrimental scene that finished off the movie. After all that happened, all of the events that lead up to Milky’s almost death after he was beaten up by Combo. You could see that anger on Shaun’s face as he walked down. It was a moment of realisation.
I enjoyed this movie, however mostly for the message it was trying to get across to its viewers. I enjoyed the aspect of setting and costume as it seemed authentic to the 80s. With the use of a young boy being the main protagonist of the film is interesting as it shows all the racist ideology’s he was exposed to while being surrounded by the wrong crowd, I believe this film represents how racism is taught and is not ideas young people come up with on their own. A memorable scene in this movie was when milky and combo where talking in the apartment before combo beat him up, this scene was so memorable as it showed the sheer disrespect people have to deal with daily due to their race, the emotional aspect of makes it more impactful and powerful.
7.5/10 – I really enjoyed this film and how it portrayed the time it was set in, especially when hearing about it a lot from my dad. While the themes were heavy and quite nasty at times, it implemented some comedy in nice ways, especially when Shaun was hanging around Woody and his friends. The music was also a highlight for me, because soul, reggae and blues are some of my favourite genres.
The most memorable scene in This Is England for me was when Combo was trying to convince Woody and his friends to ‘join him’ after spewing all of his white supremacist and nationalist ideas to them. This really marks a turning point in the film; Shaun goes from trying to fit in with Woody, to following Combo instead. I think that this scene also shows how children can be really impressionable, because Combo speaks about Shaun’s dad in a really compassionate way.
All aspects of film form including narrative contribute to the representations of cultures and societies (gender, ethnicity and age) including the ideological nature of those representations.
Performance
age
ethnicity
costume
facial expression
body language and gestures
Task 2
Stereotype -a general belief about a certain category or person countertype – goes against a stereotype of certain beliefs example a black president of America rather than a white president of America.
Sarah Connor
Sarah Connor looks stereotypically of an American waitress. In Terminator one and in this scene she is late to her job and she seems careless about it, she is being called from every direction e.g. people missing drinks, somebody putting ice-cream in her uniform dress pocket. However she shows many feminine traits she looks kind and maternal and caring.
In this scene and in the second movies, Sarah Connor is more of a countertype of a stereotypically self in the first movie. Sarah also show more masculine traits as she is holding a gun while is not conventional of a female. She looks like she is the hero and she is trying to protect something. She is wearing a tight shirt and we can see her muscles showing the audience that she is a countertype of a kind, maternal looking waitress self in the first movie.
Representation in Trainspotting
Who is doing the representation ? Danny Boyle – the director
who is being represented ? drug addicts, white ( sort of youngish) men who are Scottish
what social groups are omitted from the representation ? people with money, coloured people, old people, women are underrepresented
what message about particular social groups are being conveyed ? don’t try drugs as they are bad for mental health and physical health
which characters or social groups have power within the representation ? the main character have a main power of how drugs can have a harmful impact and them representing what they can do to you
do the characters adhere to or challenge stereotypes ? they adhere to the stereotype of young people in the backstreet of a city.
are the characters typical of films in that genre ? As the genre is crime/ drama you do suspect that the characters convey characteristics to fit into the genre for example Spud going to jail – crime. However drugs is more countertype of a crime/ drama genre.
what do representations tell audiences about society at the time the film was made and or set ? it shows the audience the time the film was made in and the society that was around and the ideology people have in that time and how films represent them.
how are elements of film form being used to construct the representation ? for example the drug den in the opening scene where they are taking heroin for the first time, the mise en scene of the place creates an ideology and representation of the characters and how they have a living of off drugs, and a unclean and messy lifestyle.
Scottish, young white men being represented in the film as drug addicts who are quite scary, mean and unkind people.
Older people being represented in the film as being kind, fun caring people compared to the younger people in the film. For example Renton’s parents are a loving couple who are deeply concerned for their son and want to make him a better person.
Women are being represented as the girlfriends to the main characters in the film. They are more represented as an object through the men’s eyes
The film was engaging and funny, while still focusing on more heavy topics such as racism and bullying. The film was unique compared to other films I’ve watched. It used scenes of violence and strong language without seeming unnecessary as it fit both the plot and characters well, the film had high verisimilitude at it was quite autobiographic to the directors upbringing so the audience saw a clear and accurate representation of England and young people in 1983 due to the use of real news clippings.
Stand out scene:
The closing scene of the film stands out to me as it shows Shaun throwing his England flag that Combo had given him into the sea, this is significant as it shows Shaun’s exit of his gang and how his beliefs have changed.
