The Film This Is England - Essay Example

?Visual arts and Film Studies College: This is England Narrative, Plot and Synopsis The film ‘This is England’ is one the British drama film that rocked the market England film market in 2006 with its creative articulation. Shane Meadows, the director, uses comic to express how the culture of England, that dates back from the 1960s, had been taken up by the white people and the impact this had to the white skinheads. From the title of the film, it is indisputable to say that the film expresses the various dimensions of life likely to be encountered in England after inheritance of the West Indian culture. The West Indian culture was characterized with a high regard for a variety of music genres including reggae, ska, and soul music, which now become key elements of the England. The film opens with a school boy, Shaun, starting a fight after one of his classmates, Havey, jokingly hurls an insult. Harvey annoys Shaun by insulting his father who had earlier passed on during the Falklands war. Shaun later leaves school and meets a group of skinheads among them Woody who pities Shaun and welcomes him to join in the crew. With time, Shaun finds comfort under the umbrella of this crew after Woody offers him a shoulder to rely on. A striking feature among the group is the only black skinhead, Milky, who seems quite pleased to share with the group despite all the others being white. As the film advances, more characters such as Meggy, Trevy, Smell, Kes, Kelly and Woody’s girlfriend Lol are revealed as members of the group (Meadows, 2006, Para. 1-2). An old skinhead member of the gang, Combo, has just completed a jail sentence and returns to the group with a new member, Banjo. Combo, a rather transparent character, expresses the differences between English nationalists and the racists as a way of inspiring leadership within the group. Resultantly, the group breaks into two and Shaun is attracted into Combo’s group as he regards Combo as an image of change and a mentor. Together with Combo, they attend meetings that are meant to sensitize the whites against the existing prejudice. Those who are opposed to the political ambition of this group, like Pukey, are rejected by the group (Fradley, 2006, para 5). As the group wages a war against racism, they have a chance to face harsh members of the nation such as the likes of Mr Sandhu who had warned Shaun against visiting his shop. This war against racism marks the climax of the film as the members of the Combo’s group fly the flag of change high despite Woody’s group remaining apolitical. At the denouement of the film, Combo suffers from depression after his old love, Lol, turns him down at such a critical time. To cure his stress, he buys bhang from Milky and they both party under intoxication and learn more about one another. When Combo learns that Milky has a rich background, he develops bitterness and beats Milky to a coma when he invites him for a family gathering. The sense of guilt wears Combo up and he resolves in violence and fights his friends including Banjo and Meggy. As he and Shaun drag Milky to hospital, they lose their calmness and cannot avoid crying out of fear (Ferreira, 2000, para 1). Later, the camera catches up with Shaun as he laments over the whole experience and his Mother, Cynthia is the only icon of hope as she assures him that Milky will recover. As the film ends, the disappointed face of Shaun cannot be mistaken as he roams near the Sea beach where he throws the Saint George flag. Themes In the film “This is England” a number of themes are well pronounced by the vivid and lively coverage of the various scenes in the film. The main theme of this film is cultural bias or racism as pointed out by its main characters. The antagonist of this film is Combo as he organizes a gang that would fight against the racial prejudice that is exhibited by characters like Mr Sandhu who denies Shaun the right to buy in his shop. The words of Combo “this is England” indicate that he understands the situation in England as it is and he is therefore ready to stand firm against prejudice (Brown, 2004, p. 6). The crew that he heads represents those people who are ready to fight against mistreatment and discrimination, while Woody’s group of skinheads remain apolitical probably for fear of the consequence of a war against the dominant racists in England. Another theme of this film is violence that seems to emanate from bitterness, which is a characteristic of those who have suffered from prejudice. When Shaun is insulted by Havey, he is quick to react and quenches his temper by fighting Havey at school. In another incidence, Combo, out of jealously, violently beats Milky for the reason that Milky invited him to share in a sumptuous family meal (Bradshaw, 2007, par. 4). Combo seems to link his misery to the prejudice that exists in England and hence fighting is the only way of expressing his anger against those who benefited from the prejudice scheme. He regrets after fighting Milky and takes him to hospital and this shows clearly that the fight was triggered by a deeply rooted inferiority complex that has been built by a prejudiced society. In this film, violence seems to be the only consolation for victims of racial prejudice like Shaun and Combo. References Bradshaw, P., 2007. This is England. Film Review. [Online] Available through: < http://www.theguardian.com/film/2007/apr/27/drama2 > [Accessed 14 Aug, 2013] Brown, S., 2004. Subcultures, pop music and politics: skinheads and Nazi rock in England and Germany". Journal of Social History. 43(3), p. 2-13. Ferreira, C., 2000. Shane Meadows: This is England Review. [Online]Available through: < http://www.academia.edu/1346716/Shane_Meadows_This_is_England > [Accessed 14 Aug, 2013] Fradley, M., 2006. This is England: A critique. [Online] Available through: < http://worldcinemadirectory.co.uk/component/film/?id=1289 > [Accessed 14 Aug, 2013] Meadows, S., 2006. Sneersnipe film Review: This is England. [Online] Available through: < http://www.sneersnipe.co.uk/review_title.php?id=398 > [Accessed 14 Aug, 2013] Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown Narrative, plot and synopsis “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown” is a Spanish drama film that has garnered a lot of attention from film analysts since its release in 1988. Pedro Almovodar, the writer and director, captured the plight of women in the Spanish culture so meticulously that many film analysts have internationalized the film on the ground that its applicability extends is far reaching (Allinson, 2001, para 5). The film is rather touching when one visualizes the suffering of women but the comedy aspect keeps the film lively and attractive. The film starts by presenting a rather stressed TV actor, Pepa Marcos, who has for long been abusing sleeping pills after being left by her boyfriend Ivan. Ivan, apart from being his lover, is his co-worker who is well known at for his melodious voice that is not only used in the job but also in seducing other ladies. As Ivan intends to go on a trip, Pepa takes the responsibility of packing his essentials into a suitcase. When Pepa journeys back to her house, she finds plenty of messages from her pals and the only way to settle her anger is to throw away her answering machine. Another character, Candella arrives and before they can begin a talk, two lovers, Carlos and Marissa arrive in their mission to search for an apartment to settle in. It is a great coincidence that Carlos, Ivan’s son with an ex-lover land at Pepa’s house. The suspense that builds when Candela attempts suicide is only lowered when Candela explains her relationship with a criminal lover, and her fear of being linked to crime by police. When Carlos recommends a lawyer who would help Candela, it turns out that she is Ivan’s new fiancee that he intends to travel with to Stockholm (Damitio, 2013, Para 3: Donohoue, 2009, Para 2). The climax sets in when it is clear that Shiite, Candela’s boyfriend, is planning to hijack the same boat plane that Ivan and Paulina are planning to use. At the same time, the police arrive at Pepa’s place after taking a call that was made by Carlos and humor is built when the police, the repairman, Carlos and Marissa all drink juice that is saturated with sleeping pills (Canby, 2001, Para 3). Pepa resolves to rescue Ivan from the plan of the criminals but refuses to accept back Ivan after he opts to dump Paulina. After this, Pepa arrives home only to meet a messy environment with drunken visitors and the entire house at odds. The story ends with the revelation that the news that Pepa had been holding for Ivan is that she had conceived. The use of both humour and crisis makes the glues the eyes of the viewers to the screen until the end of the film. Mis-en scenes and Camera techniques Almodovar applies numerous mis-en-scenes in order to spice the melodramatic atmosphere created by the female-centered film. The colours, clothes and objects that have been used have a great significance in revealing the physicality of the main characters of the film. Film analysts have a high opinion for art work that uses objects that are far-fetched from the cultural background of the characters (Allinson, 2001, p.258). They argue that objects will speak out and paint the characters in a more artistic manner. The success of Almodovar’s film can be attributed to his investment in this style of film making. One mis-en-scene feature can be identified by a mere look at the type of clothes that Lucia, Ivan’s ex-girlfriend, puts on in the film. Lucia puts on leopard-print ensemble, pyramid hats, and pink clothes which can be linked to the fashionistic dressing that dates back to 1980’s. The choice of these clothes points to the idea that Lucia is still stuck in the past when she had dated Ivan and has not yet moved on after he dumped her. She is still stuck in the past and she cannot let her bitterness go off her as seen when she confronts Pepa who she perceives to be a love-enemy. In short, the violent behavior of Lucia is exaggerated by the fact that she cannot shed off her past emotional heartbreaks just like she cannot shed her old fashioned clothes (Lippke, 2000, p. 2). Later in the film, Pepa is seen at the Balcony with a multi-coloured umbrella that has been linked to the figure of Beachball featured in the work of Lichtenstein in 1961. This is meant to portray the similarity between Pepa’s hard situation after parting with Ivan and the sorrow of the Girl with a Beach Ball. The writer has consistently used mis-en scene to capture the emotional condition of the victims of Ivan’s disloyalty. Another striking feature in this film is the excellent camera skills employed in the entire film. When Candela arrives, the audience can tell her agony when the camera closes-in to give the audience a close view of the sullen face of this character. When Candela is headed to the window to commit suicide, the camera assumes a point-of-view technique to follow this character which allows the audience to identify the motive of this character. The use of a scanty light brings out the theme of the movie as sad and melancholic (Lippke, 2000, p. 1). The idea here is to express the emotional agony that women in the Spanish society go through due to the egocentric motives of men in love relationships. Long-shot have been used in this film to capture the messy condition in Pepa’s house when she returned from the airport. Camera mechanics have been effectively utilized to cover the various scenes and characters in this film. In conclusion, the success of Almodovar’s piece can be attributed to his ability to utilize effective filming techniques to reveal the storyline themes and to colorfully paint the characters in the film. The mis-en-scenes and camera techniques employed have a great impact on the viewers as they can associate most elements of the movie with the well know perceptions. At the same time, these techniques build symbolic images of the main elements of the movie. The camera motion is well articulated to enable viewers to connect the themes with the character roles in the melodrama. Consequently, there film designer is able to successfully with the attention of the viewers all along the story. References Allinson, M., 2001. A Spanish Labyrinth: Film of Pedro Almodovar. Spain: Tauris publishers. Canby, V., 2001. Women on the verge of a Nervous Breakdown: Film review. [Online]Availablethrough: [Accessed 14 Aug, 2013] Damitio, V., 2013. Women on the verge of a Nervous Breakdown: A short review. [Online]Availablethrough: [Accessed 14 Aug, 2013] Donohoue, W., 2009. Almodovor’s Women on the Verge. [Online] Available through: [Accessed 14 Aug, 2013] Lippke, A., 2000. Flying Phones and Burning Beds. [Online] Available through: [Accessed 14 Aug, 2013] Read More

 

Read More