This Is England Close-Up (“Racist Bother Montage” Sequence)

Narrative:

Key Elements:

As with previous montages, the camerawork in this one is more gliding and graceful, carefully framed, such as the shot that smoothly dolly’s backwards as Combo and his gang walk, in slow motion, towards it.

Ideology:

Shaun is shown being indoctrinated by Combo into the gang. He is told what epithets to say, how to talk to the ethnic minorities Combo targets, being cheered on by Combo and the others as he begins to walk and talk like they do. He is also shown in one shot of him walking through a graffitied underpass, which he is superimposed against, literally descending into a world of racism, far-right sentiment and nationalism.

Combo and his gang are presented as pathetic, but imposing. The characters are shown to be truly low, as they harass women and children, thinking that they are making a difference, or are in the right. In the shot shown below, they are even shown to be laughable, as Shaun wears a coat too-big for him, and Gadget walks like a thug. However, the men are also made intimidating through their use of fear to scare away the Muslim children. Combo carries a knife, and the group, in this way, reflect their real-life counterpart nationalists. Risible in appearance and nature, but intimidating in their methods.

Again, the film strays from the nature of true British social realism, as non-diegetic compiled piano music plays, somber and sorrowful, over the montage. This music tells the audience that what Combo and his gang is wrong, immoral, and Shaun’s growing inclusion into their ideology and methods is tragic, regrettable, a low point in the story. In this way, this sequence is a direct parallel to the one where Shaun has a fun day out with his friends, the other skinheads (non-racist ones). There, the non-diegetic compiled score is soul, upbeat and positive, giving the montage an optimistic mood, and manipulating the audience to feel happy for Shaun. Here, the mood is made more miserable and downtrodden by the despondent piano tune, influencing the audience to feel sad for Shaun, and regretful of the current events in the film.