This Is England Close-Up (“Combo’s Story Montage” Sequence)

Narrative:

This scene is the disruption of the equilibrium, a clearly defined turning point in the narrative where an infectious force of hatred worms its way into an otherwise picturesque friend group.

Key Elements:

The more gritty, real use of a handheld camera is done here to give the scene, in contrast to the montages, a more brutal and dark feel. In this way, the film has all the trappings of a British social realism film, except for the use of montage and manipulation. For example, as Combo continues with his story, performing an outrageous impression of a caricature black man, the diegetic sounds lower in the sound mix and a non-diegetic compiled somber piano score rises in the sound mix, juxtaposed with Milky and Woody’s ashamed expressions and Combo’s glee in his blatantly racist impression. This is manipulative, as the film is influencing the audience to feel repulsed by Combo’s story and impression, empathising with Milky, who has been singled out and humiliated here. A true kitchen sink drama would show the scene and allow the audience to come to their own decisions on the story and Combo’s character, rather than trying to tell them how to react to it. In other words, diegetic sound is the mark of true British social realism, so This Is England goes away from true British social realism by subduing its diegetic sounds in favour of a manipulative non-diegetic compiled score.

There is deliberate focus and emphasis on Combo’s use of racial epithets to highlight his sheer hatred, his rage towards ethic minorities. It highlights the poison and vitriol of his words, and the enthusiasm of his odium.

The camera focus is tightly on Combo in this scene, the camera close to his face, and he gets the majority of the screen time during his speech. However, the film cuts away to reaction shots of other characters, like Milky, who is clearly ashamed, angry and disapproving. The use of reaction shots here shows the clear divide between the people who are rightly embarrassed by Combo’s story, like Woody, and those who find it funny, like Gadget, foreshadowing the ,after split in the group, and conveying the hidden prejudices amongst some in the group.

Ideology: