Media Production - This is England - Essay Example

Media Production - This is England Meadow’s, This Is England (UK, 2006) Meadow’s “This Is England” movie storyline focuses on young skinheads, Ronnie and Maggie, both from England ruling their roost with an iron grip and Teflon finesse. The discourse on the embattled cultural integrity of the wobbly Britain of 1983 is evident during the assortment of gritty video film of the Falklands fight at the beginning of the film, and in its cast whereby battle cries and common battle time spirit of “no retreat” are clearly audible (Meadow’s 2013). The continuous whisper of ‘war’, soulful blast, and meaningless foreign conflict, which are undertaken for hidden desires and the obscured racism, are a clear reminder of England’s past (Brussat 2013) Location This Is England was entirely filmed in the East Midlands, an irregular landscape of flat lands and estate buildings with poor infrastructure development. Most of the movie’s shooting was done in the residential areas at Nottingham, Lenton, and some parts of St Ann’s. Meadow’s movie production history demonstrates the utilization of countryside region to form spectacular film background. Similarly, Meadow’s in his movie “This Is England” concentrates much on the countryside as part of the flat landscape, which portrays much of unemployment and few chances of self-development. This environment gives the viewer a chance to meet Shane Meadow’s in his boyhood age of twelve years whose father perishes in the war against Argentina (Goldsmith 2006) Themes The death of Shaun father leaves him exposed to tyrants in the streets and school compound whereby one moment a garrulous skinhead schoolmate takes him off course. The fact that Shaun kept his own counsel worsens his anger making it tough for him to get well with other boys, which leads to a lonely self-life in the firsts scenes of the movie. With time, Shaun finds unusual friends who have no taste for education and spent most of their time in criminal activities such as excessive drinking and street fights. Shaun gets a strange haircut to please the gang of skinheads that was much focused on racial antagonism. Fortunately, a conflict arises over the leadership of the gang leading the head of the gang, Woody, to split. Combo an ex-convict takes the readership of the opposing group that seemed to possess racism. The arrival of Combo from prison changes the plot whereby Combo’s numerous fights with blacks in jail lead to his acquisition of belligerency experience. Combo’s comeback draws boundaries in the gang’s union whereby he challenges the skinheads led by Woody to guard England from external influence, and encourages Milky to behave more like an Englishman and not just like a Jamaican (IMDb 2007). During the leadership struggle of the gang, Shaun turns on the side of Combo with a conviction that his father did not die in vain after, which he is trained on combat as well as survival for the fittest techniques. Considerably, “This Is England” title of the movie and Combo’s entreaty reveal the actual nature of England’s politics and cultural background. Great embrace of English heritage, as brought out by the Combo, shows a sense of social purity and racism. On the other hand, the viewer is able to view England that is struggling to be recognized as being in a mixed state and assimilated by colonial influences, which erode the native English culture and mix it with that of theirs (Goldsmith 2006). However, Meadow’s plot concentrates on the theme where the struggle for heritage gives birth to racism. In a later scene, national front meeting attended by British farmers and factory workers is clandestinely arranged behind a pub, which becomes one of the most scaring parts of the film that is full of engraved terror on what would be the next scene (French 2006) The spilt gang leaders, Combo and Woody, are able to care for honest and bullying skinhead boy under their reign. The gangs’ leaders are seen to be emotional politicians whereby Meadow utilizes this fact to enrich the characters in the movie. Combo’s act of fatherly love to Shaun is an honest symbol of the love he missed in his boyhood. Meadow’s film reveals the war within him and inside the minds of many wronged young men abandoned in Mid-England. Combo’s character in the film unveils the conflict between the native occupants and immigrants as well as the repercussion of having outsiders in England (Jolin 2006). Meadow develops the theme of the movie brilliantly despite a smaller budget compared his Hollywood counterparts. The storyline is extremely hilarious and at the same time poignant. He has literally brought British film industry back in the big picture with a very effective style of developing the theme of story line. Meadow has successfully taken the challenge of creating realism on screen by entertaining keen viewers through the incorporation of special effects in the film “This Is England.” Editing and Camera Work Meadow utilizes the grainy camera view and rough editing style to expose the realities in Midland England on screen in a dazzling manner. Although the movie was produced on a limited budget, the camera work still makes the movie appealing to the viewer’s eyes (Dargis 2013). Notably, Meadow avoided filming complex scenes by sticking to the storyline and character’s main themes. Consequently, the camera work reveals Meadow’s’ determination to realistically expose Midland’s plights (French 2006) “This is England” brings out hidden sentiments from Midland and converts them into an excellent screen magnet (Wray 2006). The film concentrates mostly on the theme of racism in the 80s, being part of an autobiography of Shane’s youth. Meadow’s perfect editing turns everything in the movie to his favor after having created previous short films. Remarkably, Meadow gained a lot of experience in film editing from previous works, which is evident through the improved image work in the film “This is England.” Almodovar, All About My Mother (Spain, 1999) Almodovar’s films go beyond the story line, making it challenging to review them precisely whereby it starts as a story of a teenage boy known as Esteban. In most cases, Almodovar’s films surfaces sensibility of Tennessee Williams in cultivating Universal-International visual style of 1950s. All About My Mother is a movie based on the story about a woman who embarks on a mission to find the father of his son after the son dies. While in the mission she comes across a pregnant nun and ends up acting like a mother figure to her (Jenkins 2008). The death of Esteban unveils a rupture that Almodovar uses to shift the story from the boy and focus on the main theme on women. Theme and Social Context The theme of the movie can be summarized to motherhood. Manuela, (Cecelia Roth) forty years of age, is a nurse and a single mother of a teenage boy. Furthermore, she is a transplant coordinator, and teaches other physicians how to handle potential organ donors. The film starts at her home with Esteban, his son watching a soap opera under the title ‘All about Eve’. Esteban comments that the title is wrong and it should have been “Todo Sobre Eva.” In retaliation, Manuela articulates that Esteban was wrong; following that title Todo Sobre Mi Madre always appeared on the screen. The rather hidden joke becomes clear as the film continues. The storyline of the movie does not only revolve around Manuela as a mother, but also the secrecy and pretence that Manuela possessed (Bradshaw, 2002) In one of the movie’s scenes, a car runs into Esteban in an attempt to get an autograph from Marisa Paredes who is a popular actor, which forces Manuela to travel to Barcelona in search of Esteban’s long gone father. Manuela comes across a prostitute named Agrado who, when questioned whether her outfit is real, responds that her feelings are only real in her possession. Additionally, she meets Sister Rosa who after becoming pregnant without the consent of her mother decides to keep it a secret. Interestingly, Rosa’s mother is also living a dishonest life by fulfilling the fantasies of her husband (Link 2011) The movie ‘All About My Mother’ can fit the description of a soap opera with most characters portraying fictional traits. The film reveals that individuals who appear to be in control of their lives live a life of self-denial. Conspicuously, most superficial reactions originate from ‘don’t cares’ but the film discloses the exact opposite. Most of the film’s scenes are meant to evoke emotions. However, the scenes contain a great sense of intellectual value portrayed by Manuela. At some instance, the theme’s movie appears to be related to a play by Tennessee Williams “A streetcar Named Desire.” The parent-child bond plays a significant role in achieving the main theme of the film. Several characters in the film become who they are because of the bond that exists between them and their children. For example, Manuela’s life is shaped by the fact that she has a role as a mother restraining her from immorality. Evidently, Manuela is seen to hide her former life from Esteban whereby she shows Esteban photos of her with the image of his father removed, and does not dare say a word about his father’s whereabouts for a period of seven years. The movie reveals that Esteban who was a good writer was killed while trying to come to terms with her own past. The film’s plot shows that there is no direct causal connection between Manuela’s disappearance and Esteban’s death. The trauma of secreted and rooted pretence works itself out in the logic of situations that bring forth Esteban’s death. Style Almodovar brilliantly manipulates time in a splitting and puzzling way, multiple periods, months, and weeks are skipped. The film gives the viewer sufficient moments to understand the movie storyline in a logical manner. This helps Almodovar achieve most of his goals in the development of the movie’s theme. Film skipping employed by Almodovar aims at drawing viewers’ attention to the relationship between Rosa and Manuela (Jenkins 2008). The characters of the film are portrayed to be natural, real, and weighty in a way that they can be described to be under Almodovar’s pity. However, the characters are able to evoke emotions to the viewer despite their absurd life problems (Bradshaw 2002). Almodovar ensures that the characters step out of their normal life and its restrictions. Moreover, scenes carried out by minor characters such as Nina are heightened by their thematic links to the film’s main theme of motherhood. Almodovar’s artistic input of the intellectual component in the film is clearly revealed by the characters (Link 2011). Almodovar does not only tell a simple story of socially upright women, but also brings forward a reasonable statement that extends over the dynamic world of film and goes ahead to touch on the life of women and motherhood established in the film’s plot. He creatively makes sure that the simplicity of the story does not leave out the main points by making his thematic motives clear through the title: All About My Mother. Almodovar sums up the film by dedicating it to all women in general, especially those all actresses. The film seems like a love letter to mothers and actors as well as a captivating exploration of the fact that all women posses similar traits. Reference List Bradshaw, P. 2002. All About My Mother (Todo Sobre Mi Madre) | Film | The Guardian. [online] Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/film/movie/79653/all.about.my.mother [Accessed: 17 Aug 2013]. Brussat, M. 2013. Spirituality & Practice: Film Review: This Is England, directed by Shane Meadow’s. [online] Available at: http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/films/films.php?id=17127 [Accessed: 17 Aug 2013]. DARGIS, M. 2013. This-is-England - Trailer - Cast - Showtimes - NYTimes.com. [online] Available at: http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/358990/This-is-England/overview [Accessed: 17 Aug 2013]. French, P. 2006. This Is England | Film | The Guardian. [online] Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/film/movie/115242/this.is.england [Accessed: 17 Aug 2013]. Goldsmith, L. 2006. This Is England | Reverse Shot. [online] Available at: http://www.reverseshot.com/article/this_is_england [Accessed: 17 Aug 2013]. IMDb. 2007. This Is England (2006). [online] Available at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0480025/ [Accessed: 17 Aug 2013]. Jenkins, F. 2008. Grief’s Testimony: On Almodóvar’s All About My Mother. Journal of media arts culture, Available at: http://scan.net.au/scan/journal/display.php?journal_id=96 [Accessed: 17th August 2013]. Jolin, D. 2006. Empireonline Reviews | Reviews | Empire. [online] Available at: http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/ReviewComplete.asp?FID=132943 [Accessed: 17 Aug 2013]. Link, T. 2011. All About My Mother / Todo sobre mi madre (Pedro Almodóvar, 1999). [online] Available at: http://www.journeybyframe.com/2011/04/28/all-about-my-mother-todo-sobre-mi-madre-pedro-almodovar-1999/ [Accessed: 17 Aug 2013]. Meadow’s, S. 2013. Spirituality & Practice: Film Review: This Is England, directed by Shane Meadow’s. [online] Available at: http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/films/films.php?id=17127 [Accessed: 17 Aug 2013]. Wray, R. 2006. THIS IS ENGLAND - 2006 Movie Review, Directed by Shane Meadow’s. [online] Available at: http://www.wildsound-filmmaking-feedback-events.com/this_is_england.html [Accessed: 17 Aug 2013]. Read More