This Is England. In England.

"Like [Shane] Meadows's earlier pictures, Dead Man's Shoes and A Room for Romeo Brass, This Is England is about younger, vulnerable figures being taken under the wing of older, flawed men, and this personal theme here finds its richest and maturest expression yet," writes Peter Bradshaw in the Guardian. "As to whether we should buy its implied leniency about skinhead culture: that is another question.... However agnostic I confess to still feeling about his work, there's no doubt that Meadows is a real filmmaker with a growing and evolving career, and with his own natural cinematic language. When I think of his films, I think, for good or ill: this is English cinema."

Updated through 4/30.

"While This Is England is steeped in home-grown imagery, it conforms to an American style of storytelling best described as the 'things-were-never-the-same-after-that-summer' film, in which a naive teenager encounters the adult world, usually in the shape of sex (Summer of '42) or death (Stand By Me), and gets a crash course in maturity," writes Ryan Gilbey in the New Statesman. "Meadows does a vivid job of bringing the 80s to life, but his attempt to make an insightful statement about England ultimately fails."

"The cast, especially [Thomas] Turgoose and [Joseph] Gilgun, are major finds," writes the Telegraph's Sukhdev Sandhu. "What's especially praiseworthy is their ensemble acting, the ebbs and flows of who's in and out being handled with confidence and control. Danny Cohen's photography recaptures the dowdy, pebbledashed ambience of those times.... Meadows has a rapport with his casts, a winning tone and an intimate knowledge of neglected British landscapes; what he desperately needs are new and more complex ideas. Until then, his films will continue to be pleasing but fatally lightweight confections."

Louise Jury talks with Meadows for the Evening Standard, where Derek Malcolm writes, "It is as if, in trawling through his own past again, he has hit upon some basic truths and pointed them up in a self-penned script with obvious emotional honesty."

"Few directors tap their damaged past as brilliantly as Meadows," writes James Christopher in the London Times. "This is England is by far his most personal and powerful testimony."

"This Is England is beset with the usual flaw of Meadows's film-making: his uncertainty with actors," writes Anthony Quinn in the Independent. "The performances are mixed, with some responding to the loose, improvisational atmosphere better than others. Turgoose is a real find, but many of the ensemble scenes look awkward."

Jason Solomons has a good long talk with Meadows for the Guardian.

Time Out's Q&As: Chris Tilly with Stephen Graham, Vicky McClure and Andrew Shim.

Earlier: Jon Savage in Sight & Sound and Aaron Hillis for Premiere; "Weekend Brits" and "This Is England. And Englishness."

Update, 4/30: "His films have become increasingly accomplished over the past decade without, fortunately, becoming polished," writes Philip French of Meadows in the Observer. "Starting with his first fully professional picture, TwentyFourSeven, in 1997, his films have been painful letters from Middle England about life on rundown estates populated by people who are rarely gainfully or happily employed: bullies, loners, eccentrics and assorted thugs, living lives of desperation both quiet and noisy. Meadows never sentimentalises or aggrandises these people. He understands their frustration and despair in communities that in this post-industrial era have lost their soul and purpose." And This Is England is "one of his best."

Posted by dwhudson at April 27, 2007 12:09 PM