Somers Town

Shane Meadows, UK, 2008, 75 minutes

With This is England winning awards and praise in equal measure, Shane Meadows left himself with an unenviable position in crafting a follow-up. It must have been tempting to take advantage of the new opportunities awarded by this success by creating a project with a bigger budget and more established stars. However, Shane Meadows has never been one to tow the Hollywood line. Instead he has returned with Somers Town, a film that reunites him with his This is England star (and virtual mini-Meadows) Thomas Turgoose.

Somers Town is a much less aggressive prospect than This is England. The film begins with Tomo (Turgoose) on a train bound for London to begin his new life. However, after his first night spent on the streets results in a mugging and the subsequent loss of all his possessions, Tomo is left homeless, penniless and aimless in a strange city. He finds help from a Polish immigrant, sleeping under his bed and developing a touching friendship cemented through a shared longing for a French waitress.

Somers Town will inevitably be compared with This is England and in that regard it falls short. The film lacks the raw power felt in Meadow’s earlier work. However, this comparison is highly unfair, as Meadows never attempts to emulate this force. Instead, Somers Town is an understated piece of work. The film was originally conceived as a thirty minute short film and the inconsequential plot betrays these origins. Like his British contemporary Mike Leigh, Meadows is less concerned with plot mechanisms than with developing a believable set of characters. Both leads acquit themselves well, and are backed up by a strong supporting cast featuring a scene-stealing Perry Benson.

The film may be less aggressive than This is England, but it nonetheless contains a political edge. Meadows has stated that one aim of the film was to challenge preconceptions of Polish immigrants and in this goal he undoubtedly succeeds. However, the film never feels worthy thanks to the irreverent script, much of which was improvised. Meadows retains one of the finest eyes for an image in the business, and in choosing to shoot predominantly in black and white London is given a stunning new look. Overall, while undoubtedly a gentler prospect, given the current unease in Britain regarding immigration, Somers Town may provide an even more valuable statement on the state of the nation than its much heralded predecessor.

Review by Neil Henry
Written for EUFS Programme Spring 2009