Case Study: 'This is England'

'This is England' (dir. Shane Meadows, 2006) is a brilliant contemporary piece of British cinema which you should study and be able to write about in the exam.

Your task will be to watch it in full, and then answer an essay question.

The following resources will be useful - make sure you copy/link to it:

• Michael Walford's 'This is England' blog at the University of Warwick has lots of information about the film and its social/historical context, as well as links to articles and reviews about the film.
• An interview with Shane Meadows on the BBC Film Network site about why he likes making low-budget films. Skip ahead to the 2min mark to listen to him talk about the making of This is England.
• What were the challenges he faced in creating the verisimilitude of the 80's setting?
• In this interview taken from the DVD, Meadows explains what he thinks about youth cultures in the 80s and today.
• What, according to him, were some of the appeals of belonging to a group such as the skinheads?