Set in England 1983, during the times of Margaret Thatcher and the war with Argentina. There are a bunch of skinheads who are fiercely patriotic about their England and don't want immigrants to come and take their share of the pie. They feel that they are losing out on a good life and jobs due to the immigrants particularly the Pakistanis.
A young boy Shaun is also taken into this group by the leader Combo, after seeing his angst at losing his father in one of the wars. Shaun also indulges in bullying the Pakistanis along with Combo and gang. There are also a set of skinheads like Woody and Lol who are also Shaun's friends,but don't want to get mixed up with Combo's violent form of nationalism.
In the end Shaun realizes that all this violence towards other immigrants is going to help him in no way after seeing Combo brutally butcher Milky, a Jamaican friend, in a fit of drunken rage. Shaun throws the St. George's Cross flag into the river in the end.
Hits
- Stephen Graham as the fiercely proud skinhead Combo is a very talented actor. His expressions are top class. But, his baby face doesn't make him look the part.
- Thomas Turgoose as the 12 yr old Shaun acts over smart and beyond his age as the character demands.
- The music score by Ludovico Einaudi is good. Some songs and poignant theme bits are part of the score.
- The screenplay is not very predictable. It travels on unexpected paths at times like when Woody backs out from violence, when we actually expected him to lead the fight.
VERDICT
The obvious similarities to American History X, that classic movie, notwithstanding, this movie is also worth a watch for the socially relevant themes of racism and nationalism.
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