Somer's Town

Somer's Town



On paper this film hasn't got a lot going for it. It's a short film(About 70mins long) about a young homeless lad who befriends a Polish immigrant and falls in love with a french waitress. Not a lot more happens in the film. No super speed car chases. No high tension gunfights. So why should you go and see this? Well, first off, it's directed by Shane Meadows. Nuff said.

Fifteen year old Tomo(Thomas Turgoose, This is England) runs away from his home in Nottingham and travels to London. He's promptly mugged for all his worldly goods and left bleeding in the street. The next day he meets Marek(Piotr Jagiello), a quiet Polish Immigrant who likes photography, and the two strike up a friendship. They bond over their shared interest in French waitress Maria, starting a friendly competition to win her love.
It's not long before Marek provides Tomo with shelter, although he must hide from Marek's father.

The two lads concoct new ways of making money along the way; Working for shady, yet likeable, wheeler-dealer Graham and stealing clothes from the laundrette, so they can but Maria gifts.

As the story unfolds we’re exposed to more of Marek and his father’s backstory, showing the reasons for a relationship that looks healthy, but isn’t without its troubles. This is where Meadows really excels, presenting us with characters we instantly like and care about, then showing us their issues and how they deal with them.

The film has a lot of heart and a fair few laughs.
There's one hilarious scene where Tomo's clothes
get ruined and he has to wear a floral dress. Again, it's funnier than it sounds in print.

The Film is shot almost exclusively in black and white( the final sequence is in colour) to draw our attention away from the characters surroundings, so we can focus on the characters themselves.

Thomas Turgoose, unheard of before This is England, really proves his worth here. His brilliant acting gives Tomo instant sympathy. He doesn’t come across as a world weary, life-hardened kid from the streets, but more like a scared little boy overwhelmed by his surroundings. It makes the beating he receives in the first ten minutes harder to watch.

One thing that let it down for me was the over sentimental climax. The fairy tale ending was at odds with the realism throughout the film. It may have been a short film, but it could have lost the last five minutes and benefited from it. It seems Meadows was guilty, like the audience watching, of falling in love with the characters and willing them to succeed.

Verdict 8/10
Another strong entry from Meadows, securing him as our best British filmmaker.