Saw Shane Meadows' This Is England.. as a download from Channel Four a while back....visceral stuff.. a very politically coloured piece ... The title sequence could be a short, entitled "We Hate Thatcher,and this is why"...it includes some horrific footage from the Falklands campaign ,that i had not seen before.(.A similar montage ,these days would be entitled "We hate Bush and Blair,and this is why"..) The Falklands War was seen by many of us as a very politically expedient adventure,and the image of Britain,more specifically England,as the triumphal World Power, flexing it's moral,military muscles,cast Margaret Thatcher as the "War" Prime Minister,and contrasted strongly with the unrest at home..Three million unemployed,social unrest in the racially divided inner cities.. and we know how extremism can thrive under these conditions...ringing any bells? Main character "Shaun" is only eleven or so,has lost his father to "The Falklands ". ..gets inculcated into the "skinhead" culture. Firstly with "Woody" and his group of well-meaning,friendly ,integrated types,who mainly love the Ska music..then,he graduates ,catastrophically, to the psychotic racist nut-case , "Combo" (Stephen Graham)with his twisted political agenda. Despite the integrated ,Jamaican music loving roots of the movement, skinheads were recruited by the British National Party. "This is England" is, apparently strongly auto-biographical for the director,and charts these political currents in society .I experienced first hand,the ripples and eddies that went through the music business..Socialist Worker activists The Redskins attempted single-handedly it seemed ,to wrest the the hi-jacked Motown and Ska away from the Skinheads,freshly recruited by the BNP (British National Party).I was at the "Save the GLC" concert where the boot-boys rumbled them..Following "punk" ,which was rooted in New York of course,and "New Wave" The British music scene of the early eighties was highly politically charged and marked with violence.Remember "Ghost Town" by The Specials? This band helped hugely with the already strong anti-rascistmovement. In the Film,things get darker and darker,and visually we are payed off with a very effective image,that echoes the "Goose Green" footage...Acting is great,despite many being "first timers" i guess..but the young kid (Thom Turgoose) is probably the best performance .. a tough watch,but very rewarding.