The first thing that struck me about This is England was the fantastic 16mm cinematography. Every shot of greying pebble-dash spliced with soundbites of Maggie Thatcher droning on about the Falklands, or of the apron-clad white and Asian women running up the road to start work at the factory, powerfully evokes the bleakness, desperation, disillusion and struggle of this working-class midlands community.
I really love all the performances in this film but Stephen Graham especially stands out. You’re never quite sure when Combo is going to lash out in a frenzy of violence and racial abuse and as a result every scene he’s in is fraught with almost unbearable tension. He’s truly one of the scariest and most hateful characters I’ve seen in a film but his confusion and loneliness also make him so pitiable and so sad – a really difficult mix of emotions to inspire in a viewer. The exploitation of young, angry and frustrated working-class men by the far right is sadly something that has always dogged British culture, most recently with the rise of the BNP. But the popularity of the National Front in the 1980s is unique given the high numbers of ‘original skinheads’ who u-turned against their own racially liberated scene and embraced hardline nationalist politics. This extraordinary shift is ultimately what makes Combo such an interesting character.
Although some people have criticised it, I also loved the ending. I think it was perfect to have Sean throw the English flag into the sea in the final scene; it’s almost symbolic of a kind of baptism for him as he makes a new start, a little older, a little wiser. The simple and stark extreme close-up shot of his face just before the credits roll is a reminder of the innocence and possibilities of youth. A truly disturbing and moving film.