SOMERS TOWN
UK, 2008, 75 minutes, Black and white/Colour.
Piotr Jagiello, Thomas Turgoose, Elisa Lasowski, Ireneusz Czop, Kate Dickie, Perry Benson.
Directed by Shane Meadows.
This is a brief story of two teenagers who become friends in the King’s Cross area of London, Somers Town.
It was directed by Shane Meadows who has become something of a British favourite with his glimpses into life in the Midlands (24/7, A Room for Romeo Brass, This is England). This time, he is trying out filming in London, atmospheric black and white photography (with some grainy colour at the end for a trip to Paris – on the Eurostar (who invested in the film) out of the newly built and opened St Pancras station near King’s Cross which has become the Eurostar station).
The screenplay is also topical, not just the detail of living in this area of London (where the boy from Nottingham can be mugged and robbed in the streets), but with the building sites around the station, the flats and the shops selling goods that have fallen off the back of a truck, but in the presentation of migrant workers from Poland, their labour, their struggles with the language, their loneliness.
This is particularly true for the introspective Marek, a teenager who has come with his father, misses his mother (wishing she could come to London for weekends), spends a lot of time with his camera, snapping the sympathetic French waitress at a local café. Tomo (Thomas Turgoose from This is England) has come from Nottingham with no prospects and no desire to return home. He is befriended on the train by a woman who helps him out with a sandwich and some cash after the mugging. At the café he meets Marek, messes around with him and takes his photos. But, they become friends, Marek hiding Tomo at home, meeting with Marie, the waitress, encountering Graham and his dodgy goods and doing some work for him and falling foul of Marek’s father after a bout of drinking and raucous music and letting their hair down.
Life wasn’t meant to be easy is one of the messages of this film but there is a warmth of feeling in this tale of two very different boys meeting and becoming friends. Apart from the immediate trip to Paris, who knows how far this friendship will lead to?
1.The acclaim for the film? A brief slice of life? The London focus, Somers Town itself? The local flavour? Universal appeal?
2.The black and white photography, the locations, streets, buildings, building sites, St Pancras station? Authentic? The atmospheric score and songs? The colour sequences in Paris at the end?
3.The title, the focus, London, the King’s Cross area, its life and style, the range of migrants, the Poles, the building of St Pancras station, the working class, flats, cafes, the sellers of stolen goods?
4.The Poles and immigration to the UK from Poland, especially after Poland joining the European Union? The work, homes, language issues, hopes?
5.Marek and his father? Coming to London, the mother left behind, wanting her to come for weekends? The scene of them cooking at home, peeling the vegetables, the onions? Their talk, discussions about swear words? At the table, the meal, reading the letters and the innuendo about sexual behaviour? The father going out, his friends, drinking? Passing Graham and not talking? Graham and Marek’s return, the discussions about the Manchester United T-shirt, getting the illegal Arsenal T-shirt? Getting Marek to help him with his work? Marek, introspective, photography, his infatuation with Maria and all her photos? His age?
6.The contrast with Tomo, on the train from Nottingham, starting to talk to Jane? His friendliness? Arriving in London, no home to go back to, Jane and her help? Going to sleep, on the streets, the three boys mugging him, robbing him? Going to Jane, the café, her help with the money, a listening ear?
7.His interest in Marek, in the shop, the photos, messing around, the owner and his comments? Maria and her work there, the photos? Walking with Marek, the discussions, the bond between the two? Tomo and his story? Marek being able to confide in him? But wanting to keep him from his father? The meeting with Graham, the discussions about sandpapering the deckchairs, the money, the chairs and nobody turning up? At home, happy? The laundry, taking the clothes, trying to sell them to Graham?
8.Tomo and Marek at home, concealing Tomo from his father? Tomo and his wanting the toilet, in the bathroom and his behaviour? Their buying all the food, getting drunk, the music, fooling around?
9.The father, his anger, Marek accusing him of drinking? Marek sleeping, his father watching over him, the apology, their talk about missing his mother?
10.Tomo, his going to Graham’s, the proposition about helping him with the work?
11.Maria, French, working at the café, the photos, in the chair, going out, the exhilaration, her liking the two boys equally? Their doting on her?
12.The decision to get the ticket to Paris, the mood, the Eurostar trip? The details of enjoying the visit to Paris?
13.A glimpse of English life, London life, the changes in 21st century London?
