Meadows does it again (Somers Town (DVD))

Member Name: shaneo632

Product:	Somers Town (DVD)
Date:	07/07/09 (8 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great acting and affecting plot

Disadvantages: Very short and minimalist

Shane Meadows is without a doubt one of the most intriguing and compelling British directors working today - his most famed works, chiefly Dead Man's Shoes and This is England, are achingly humanistic pieces, and Somers Town, although minimalist and hardly the director firing on all cylinders, retains those human, resonant sensibilities.

Somers Town follows the adventures of two teenage boys named Tomo (Thomas Turgoose, the young star of This is England) and Marek (Piotr Jagiello), who form an unlikely friendship through their shared sense of alienation and discontent. Tomo has run away to London from a lonely life in the Midlands. Marek, meanwhile, is a Polish immigrant living with his father in Somers Town, central London. Marek begins hiding Tomo in his flat (unknown to his father), and the two boys go on adventures that cause them to learn a lot about life, love, and friendship.

Considering the film's focus on Eurostar, some controversy did arise over whether this is simply a glorified advert for it. Meadows did recieve £400,000 from Eurostar to fund the film, but the Eurostar segment is very short, and there are greater concerns here from Meadows - he is concerned with humanity, and a deep and affecting relationship between two young boys who feel alienated and dissatisfied with their lives.

Running in at a mere 68 minutes, Somers Town is a brief yet agreeable drama revolving around the friendship forged between two uneasy youngsters in London. Meadows' black and white photography surprisingly manages to romanticise the low-rent industrial areas he captures, and whilst wholly minimalist in its composition, Somers Town is a very human dramatic piece.

Summary: A minimalist but impressive effort