Se in This is England l'obiettivo the director had focused on the figure of Shaun, the four-episode miniseries Meadows allows to rebuild a significant amount of additional material in his possession, to broaden the picture of the dynamics of group and expand the boundaries of his microcosm. The characters who populate thus acquire additional depth, their background is enriched and improved focus on the present.
Thanks to the quality of a cast of far above average acting and a fresh and spontaneous, which uses the technique of 'ad-lib (ad libitum , namely the possibility for the actor to improvise dialogue on canvas set: see for example the comparison between Lol and the father in the fourth episode of the series) to increase the emotional involvement of the viewer, the characters are alive Meadows, three-dimensional, real. The bleak reality that must deal every morning might blunt the sharp corners of their impetuosity of youth, but did not castrate the dreams and hopes, neither has scratched the truest sense of that rebellious spirit that stirs again minds. "I am still in skinhead" slams in a Woody face Lol, guilty of becoming more like a father who has always been a model of social approval and defeat in the eyes of his son.
we will go into their small apartments in the suburbs and it smelled musty, damp smell and canned food, we see the cracks in the walls, bare walls, the objects stored on the floor. Together with the camera linger on the bleak squalor of the exterior, the monotony / monochrome landscape, the quiet stillness, within the walls of gray blocks of concrete, hidden stories of violence, marginalization, social and personal defeat. And then we go down the stairs of apartment buildings crumbling and we follow the protagonists in joyful night raids, improvised at football matches, al pub per assistere all’eliminazione della nazionale inglese a opera della Mano di Dio, ne condividiamo sogni, desideri e frustrazioni. È questo, credo, il pregio più evidente del cinema di Meadows: è sincero, autentico, mai superficiale o scontato.
Divertente e a tratti spensierata nei primi due episodi, la serie cambia marcia e dà il meglio di sé nella seconda parte, quando è lo stesso Meadows a imbracciare la macchina da presa e ad aumentare esponenzialmente la potenza drammatica e disturbante di immagini, sequenze e situazioni. L'inquadratura stringe progressivamente sulla figura di Lol (una splendida Vicky McClure), sempre more central character of the group, on a future that could be next to Woody, but no, and a past that returns to collect what it is with all of the interest rate of wear accumulated over the years. It will be a combo, back in town to go to his mother's dying, close the circle around Lol expiate past sins.
on these pages, therefore, continues my commitment in sponsoring the film from Shane Meadows , of \u200b\u200bwhich I am slowly recovering the scattered pieces (next stop: Somers Town). I can not help but recommend to everyone the vision first the film, not necessary for understanding the events of the miniseries, but certainly useful in providing a background sound. Having done this, look in rapid succession the four episodes that make up This is England '86. Then maybe go back to these four parts that we do talk.
