This is England is the story of a summertime school holiday.Those long weeks between terms where life-changing events can take place. It’s 1983 and school is out. Twelve-year-old Shaun is an isolated boy growing up in a grim coastal town, whose father has died fighting in the Falklands War.
Over the course of the summer holiday he finds male role models when those in the local skinhead scene take him in. With his new friends Shaun discovers a world of parties, first love and the joys of Dr Marten boots. Here he meets Combo, an older racist skinhead who has recently got out of prison. As Combo’s gang harass the local ethnic minorities, the course is set for a rite of passage that will hurl Shaun from innocence to experience.
(Filmeducation.org)
To understand the social background of the story you must pay attention to the opening sequence. It is important in representing the social, historical and cultural context of the film (the early 80's).
The sequence moves from trivial clips of Roland rat, Space Invaders -the first computer game- hairs styles of the the ‘new romantic’ group Duran Duran, the wedding of Charles and Diana, then this becomes increasingly serious with anti US air base protests, the miners strike, a National Front March, and race riots. The sequence ends with news clips from the Falklands/Malvinas war showing injured soldiers. Tory Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher is a constant presence throughout.
Words that are underlined are relevant for the vocabulary of our last term.
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