(Madman)

Grainy black and white follow-up to Shane Meadows’ extraordinary This Is England

Two years older than the pint-sized skinhead he portrayed in This Is England, Thomas Toogoose is once again lead actor in this short, sweet Shane Meadows effort. This time, Toogoose is Tomo, an adolescent runaway from the Midlands trying his luck in London. After a couple of rough patches (including being mugged and beaten by a gang), he befriends young Polish immigrant and budding photographer Marek (Piotr Jagiello). The favourite photographic subject of Marek is a beautiful French waitress he’s in love with – and when Tomo meets her, he quickly feels the same way. Fortunately, Meadows spares us tortured teen rivalry over a girl’s affections. The two stay friends, and their close bond with the waitress who “loves them both equally” creates a naïve romanticism in the pair that recalls the scruffy, wide-eyed youths in old Italian neo-realist movies. After the bleak vision Meadows has presented in the likes of Dead Man’s Shoes and This Is England, Somers Town (despite its gritty black and white cinematography) is a surprisingly comical, touching and optimistic viewing experience. Telling its brisk, simple story in just over an hour, this may be Meadows-lite but even that’s preferable to much of the dross that passes as entertainment. The superb lead performances from Toogoose and Jagiello make the film all the more watchable.

***½  

MATT THROWER

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