Somers Town - another masterpiece by Shane Meadows (Somers Town (DVD))

Member Name: adambrown400

Product:	Somers Town (DVD)
Date:	03/05/09 (77 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great script and direction

Disadvantages: none

Somers Town is another masterpiece by British director Shane Meadows. Those familiar with Meadows work will be instantly drawn to this small independent picture filmed around London.

Starkly filmed in black and white, Somers Town features all the directors' trademarks, most notably the clever, witty and half-improvised script. It also features some top class British acting talent, not necessarily actors you may know, but ones who are believable in the roles that they play.

Thomas Turgoose is again excellent here as he was in 'This is England'. Here he plays Tomo, a young man who comes to London to start a new life. Originally from the Midlands, he is a little naïve to expect to settle in easily and within a day or so is beaten up and robbed by a gang of youths. He befriends another young lad Marek (Piotr Jagiello), a Polish immigrant who lives with his labourer father.

The two form an unlikely bond, and Marek helps out Tommo by hiding his in his flat whilst his father is at work. As the film progresses they become infatuated with Maria, a French waitress who works at their local café. As the film progresses they learn about life in London the hard way, stealing clothes from a launderette and working as deck chair attendants for the man upstairs.

I especially liked the way the Polish lifestyle is depicted in the film. There is no hint or mention of race or race hatred, which I thought there might be. These are just two outcasts who find they have a lot of things in common with each other.

Its also good to see Meadows stretching out his wings a little and filming in the south, not just in and around Nottingham. The London locales are suitably drab and filthy.

Its hard to describe accurately, or do any justice to a Shan Meadows film. When I first saw his film twentyfourseven with Bob Hoskins, I tried to see all of the films he has made since. He's always tried to keep the same feel and look to his films, never 'selling out' (although Once Upon A Time in the Midlands came close) and finding detail in even the smallest things in life - and that are typically British. Theres real humour to the film too, especially when Marek doesn't let Tommo use the toilet in the house to go for a poo, and when they steal clothes from the launderette and find that they've only go women's gear.

This film is much more in the vein of twentyfourseven and A Room for Romeo Brass, it doesn't have the shocks of Dead Mans Shoes, but it works so well as a character piece and as another reason why Thomas Turgoose is an actor to watch.

The film has been criticised for filming the last few scenes in colour, mainly due to 'Eurostar' funding the film. I find it difficult to criticize the film in any way, and sometimes I suppose you gotta do what you've gotta do to get your movie made.

I urge everyone to seek out Somers Town and the rest of Shan Meadows work. A masterpiece.

Summary: more please!