I just watched This Is England, the new film from the writer / director of Dead Man's Shoes, another one from Warp Films. Fucking fantastic... great soundtrack, a perfect picture of England in 1983. It's about a 12 year old lad who becomes a skinhead and gets caught up in a gang which joins the National Front. It's about England then and now, the Falkands, Thatcher, racism, what it's like to be young and part of a group of friends. Funny, engaging and moving. I'm starting to like Shane Meadows, I think! If you get a chance, watch it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0jkv2bRFgQ
Mark Kermode interview with Shane Meadows on BBC2's The Culture Show https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8Z8U7IZrE8
Funny you should mention that, I was just reading the review on the Antifa website earlier today: http://www.antifa.org.uk/news.html Think I'll side with you on this one though. Given that they also slate American History X, and I love that film, their rubbishing of this film is a little suspect to me....
Condemning it because it's not "anti-fascist" enough or because people could get encouraged to go around beating up "pakis" after watching it is to miss the point of it rather spectacularly! What's so great about it is that it's not simple or obvious, it's messy and complex; you like these characters, even the nasty racist ones, they have charisma and form bonds of friendship and loyalty, they have reasons for behaving how they do and thinking how they do - they are humans. Which is precisely why people get drawn into these kinds of groups. It's a great film, I'd recommend people watch it and decide for themselves