This Is England Opening Analysis ☮ ☮ ☮

"This Is England" (2006) is a drama based on the life of a typical "Skinhead" in the 80's, when they were most popular. The story follows a young boy called "Shaun", who is recruited by a group of skinheads, who is then introduced and brainwashed by a hardcore skinhead called "Combo".

The film opens with a montage of historic events from the 1980's in England, This involves, political,media and public events. Instead of reenacting these events, We are shown the original footage that was used in the 80's,to (for some of the audience) refresh their memory of what was seen as popular culture and what was going on with our country at that time, and to give an insight to the rest of the audience of what life was like in England in the 80's. Using the exact footage also has the definition of the 80's, immediately showing the audience that due to the quality of the clips that what is occurring in them is set at a past time.This also involves the audio we hear which is the song "54-46 Was My Number" by the "Toots And The Maytals", which fits in the genre of reggae, which was also very popular in the 1980's, showing the audience what people were interested in which illustrated what scene they were in.



The first thing the audience sees, is a medium shot of the popular children's show puppet, "Roland Rat" doing a radio broadcast. This immediately gives the impression that we are going to be seeing what was favoured by the majority of England (working class). We then see Margaret Thatcher, England's then prime minister, in some sort of building equipment, dressed in what would be perceived as fancy clothing (in royal blue her party's colour), and matching pearl earrings and necklace on. This gives off two impressions, that she is trying to work with the people, but also, some would view,as ridiculous she would arrive to do "manual labour" in formal expensive clothing. Involving Margaret Thatcher in the montage multiple times is effective as it shows the audience how impacting she was on the country whether people thought of her in a positive way or not, which shows her controversiality.

We then move on to topics like gangs, Mainly skinhead activity. We then see a track shot of a graffitied wall, of gang or individuals names on. With the shot and the long length of the damaged wall, presents the effect of an ongoing rivalry/war between members of the British public and with the government. We then see a high angled shot of a Large group of suited "Skin heads",walking up a staircase towards the camera, giving the impression that the skin heads were serious due to their attire and showed that they truly cared about their views getting heard and enforced.

The royal wedding of the Duchess of wales, Diana Spencer, and the Prince of Wales, Charles George. Which is seen as a very historic and important event to many patriots in England due to the fact that they produced the heir to the British throne. We also see many supporters waving British flags due to the special occasion, showing both the British and foreign audience, how important the monarchy were/are, whilst also setting the mood as a country proud community.

We also see a long shot of rioters,
desperately trying to knock down a metal fence blocking off the mines, This is also to do with Margaret Thatcher due to her doing of closing the mines, putting many people out of jobs, which angered many people, This is clearly represented here, where thousands of people protest and riot, giving off the impression that the characters who the film centres, aren't a fan of her policies as they clearly outline one very controversial acts she made, in the process setting a controversial tone on the movie.

After we then see the stage of technology England was at, as we see a young boy playing what would seem to the younger generation of today as a poor graphic game, on a small television screen. We also see the development/making of CD's, which were just being introduced as a replacement to the video tape. Showing the audience that this won't be a film with high tech references in it due to the low electronic households compared to today.


A lot more riot and protest shots are then seen of men pushing against police officers, running away from them and fighting each other, Which gives off the impression that it is down to the law system or an act that has been made by the government that they do not agree with, this also could be down to political views when it comes to the men fighting each other. Parades of soldiers and the public raising english and British flags past the house of commons, also lets the audience know that a vast majority intensely disliked/hated the way the government was acting.




We then see a medium shot of a car with its front window smashed through, cutting to a foreign family with their front window of their house smashed, illustrating to the audience that there is discrimination against foreign people in England, which sets a dark tone on the storyline. There is also numerous other pub brawls shown as well, suggesting a violent theme towards the audience



The montage draws to a close with a group of soldiers sitting on top of a large number of injured and dead soldiers on the back of a truck from the falklands war, which was a very controversial topic also. Leaving us with this clip shows that this event has a huge impact in the plot and possibly characters in the story. The dark lighting and colours that are left with us from the montage also suggest dark tones and themes throughout the film, showing the audience this is not a film for young children due to it's suggested violence, discriminating views and heavy political subjects.