SOMERS TOWN

Shot in black & white with a hand-held camera and starring a bunch of no-name actors, Somers Town might not be the kind of film to pull millions at the box office, but all cinephiles need to know is that this is the new Shane Meadows film. Following up his 2006 career-best film This Is England, his latest film sees Meadows finally getting out of the Midlands and into the big city, using the titular area between Euston and St. Pancreas Stations in north London as the setting. As one might expect, a Meadows-filmed London is void of iconic imagery; if you€™re after majestic Westminster or romantic Notting Hill, you€™d best look elsewhere. Thomas Turgoose, the wee chubby lad from This Is England gets the lead role once again as Tomo, a Midlands runaway in search of nothing in particular down in the nation€™s capital. Barely venturing a few steps outside of the train station, a slightly timid Tomo loiters around Somers Town in his track suit, and is quickly pummelled and stripped of his possessions by a group of teens. The down-trodden Tomo finds an unlikely mate in Marek, a sensitive Polish shutterbug who agrees to supply room & board for his new friend, so long as he can be hidden from his rough father. The boys raise a bit of hell around the €˜hood, and do odd jobs for a local weirdo to raise money in order to romance a French cafe cutie. It is their mutual love for a girl that gives Somers Town that special ingredient that was lacking from previous Meadows films. For the first time in his career, Meadows crafts a tender story that focuses not just on the bruises and grim social setting, but on the joys of boyhood and the magic of a first crush. It€™s a timeless theme executed with personal gracefulness by Meadows, and the resulting product is a joy to behold. Sure, there€™s some underlying social commentary and undoubted art-house-ness to the style, but the message is subtle enough to let the audience laugh away at Tomo€™s vivid imagination and smile at those familiar flights of fancy. Tough, endearing, and bursting with tremendous heart, Somers Town is the rare feat that spins social realism into entertaining and engaging cinema. At 75 minutes, the film zips by, but will resonate for ages after leaving the cinema. A deft hand at shooting contemporary street stories, director Shane Meadows is a blessing to British cinema €“ a blue-collar auteur that can show the world that there€™s a whole lot more to England than pageantry and romance. Meadows exhibits the fervour of 70s art-house cinema, but without the pretension.

rating: 4

http://www.somers-town.com/