Somers Town
Shane Meadows is on familiar ground with his latest film, the story of a friendship that develops between two teenagers when they meet in North London's Somers Town. In several of his previous films, including A Room for Romeo Brass, 24/7 and This Is England, the director has explored the connection between friends (or people who pass for friends) during adolescence. The main differences between the earlier films and Somers Town are to do with texture rather than theme - this being Meadows' first feature to be shot in London and his first in black & white since Small Time in 1996.
Thomas Turgoose, who played the central role in This Is England, is Tomo, a runaway from Nottingham and a slightly older and much more cocky version of his character in the earlier film. After a series of mishaps on arriving in London Tomo falls in with Marek (Piotr Jagiello) a lonely Polish teenager who spends his days roaming around Somers Town taking photographs while his father is at work. Under Tomo's influence the quiet Marek begins drinking and shoplifting, but when he does start breaking the rules it is shown - rather refreshingly - as a liberating experience rather than a step towards ruin. Some have commented on the lighter tone of the film, but there are comical moments in even Meadows' darkest films and in Somers Town there are moments when things could go badly wrong for Tomo and Marek.
That said, while some of the chat between the two boys is warmly done and both the young leads are appealing, the film feels slight. By the time a mawkish infatuation with a French waitress became the focus of the film I had lost interest in the adventures of Tomo and Marek, and the saccharine ending did nothing to revive me. I'm an admirer of some of Meadows' work - in particular the revenge tragedy Dead Man's Shoes - which is one of the best British films of recent years. I didn't feel the same about This Is England, which seemed to have more in common with The Rock 'n' Roll Years than Made In Britain. It wasn't a bad film, but it was as if the critics had discovered that rarest of creatures, a reasonably popular British filmmaker still living in Britain, and had decided that he could do no wrong.
Much of the discussion of Somers Town has mentioned the company who provided funding for the project, who must be delighted with the return they have made on their investment. I realise that it's difficult for filmmakers to fund their work and that product placement is almost everywhere these days, but I felt conscious of being sold to. The Dark Knight may feature particular types of car or tailored suit, but that's far less intrusive, in my view, than a story which not only refers to its sponsor on numerous occasions, but whose denouement is inextricably linked to it. As Marek and Tomo pick up their tickets for a journey to Paris the black & white of London suddenly turns to colour, and my amazement at the fact that this film was named the best British film at the Edinburgh Film Festival was reinforced. I haven't been distracted from the merits of Somers Town by the issue of its funding - I just don't think it's a very good film.
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Shane Meadows should not be criticised for letting eurostar fund his film "Somers Town". British directors, actors and anyone in the British film industry find it difficult to recieve funding, and if Eurostar are offering to pay for this film to be made then, firstly, what does this tell us about our crumbling film industry and secondly, Meadows should jump at any chance he gets to create his film. Although the advertsing may not be subtle and there may be various references to the railway company, the film's meanings and symbolism still lies beneath. Critics who are saying that Eurostar have altered elements of the film and ruined it should give this film a chance and see how hard it is for a British director to make it big on such low budgets. I don't feel that having Eurostar funding the film has ruined it at all and it is still as artistic as it would have been using any other means of funds.
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I think that it is stupid to say that the 'advertising' will devalue the film. If it is a good film then that's all that should matter. I won't be paying attention to the Eurostar references, i don't think i will even notice them if the film is good, which if it's anything like 'This Is England' it should be.
I mean, if you were a director who needed a bit of funding to make your film more of a success, wouldn't you slip in a few hardly noticable 'advertisments'to keep those who are funding you happy? I know i would, if it meant that more people would see my film and it would all be worth while in the end. I don't think that just because Meadow's needed funding he should be accused of selling out. It looks like a really good film, and if it is then that's all we should be focusing on.
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There is no mention of Eurostar in the above article, and i would have thought any article about Somers Town would include Eurostar. They provided the money, and the film can be viewed as one long advertisement for how Eurostar will makle your life so much better, shown by the switch to colour at the end of the film. The films itself has good reviews gennerally, but the inclusion of the Eurostar raises questions. How much did Meadows alter the ending of the film to get funding from Eurostar? How much of the script changed to accomadate Eurostar? Would the waitress have been French if the Eurostar didn't go to France? Would the film even have been set in London, and would the Polish boy's father had a job, if it hadn't been for Eurostar? This raises alot of questions which could only be answered by reading the original script, but that should not detract from the quality of the film. Its still a Meadows film, and it's still good, even if it is a huge Eurostar advertisment.
YourEvilSnowQueen
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Somers Town has created a lot of controversy over the past few months about how it is seen as a big advert for Eurostar and many other things. What some people don't seem to get is that major films like Sex in the City and The Fast and the Furious are just the same as Somers town as throughout their whole film they are advertising and promoting products. At least with Somers town it brings in a different aspect of this by doing so as they bring the Funder of the film and link it all in together to make it all less obivous and that is what I think Shane Meadows has done during the making of this film.I will admit that it can be seen as a big advert but it reality it's not as bad as Big Commerical American films like Sex in the city which was an even worse film than Somers Town!!!!!!
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I think that although Shane Meadows received the funding from Eurostar to make Somers Town only goes to show the state of the British film industry becuase it is the only way he was able to get funding for this film. The only problem is that this would have affected the construction of his film because he would have to advertise the Eurostar in Somers Town. Even so I think that this film is creative and arty and has not devalued the film, on the other hand I can imagaine why people would question the integrity of the film because british films are known for being independant and Somer Town obviously isn't.
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SOMERS TOWN
I haven’t seen this film yet but I think its quite sad that this film is getting such bad press over its funding, what makes a movie is whether it’s any good or not, But in any case, my opinion on the funding issue is that it’s better to have a movie rather than have nothing at all. As that’s what would have happened if Eurostar hadn’t stepped up, the fact that Shane Meadows couldn’t get funding in the first place is a disgrace, thankfully his resourcefulness has meant we still have a movie at the end of the day, with a couple “Eurostar moments” to boot. someboy out
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I haven't seen this film yet but I think its quite sad that this film is getting such bad press over its funding, what makes a movie is whether it's any good or not
@ someboy89 - in the last line of my post I said,
I haven't been distracted from the merits of Somers Town by the issue of its funding - I just don't think it's a very good film.
I really don't think I'm being naive about film funding, I just resent watching something that seems so focussed on persuading me to love a brand.
What some people don't seem to get is that major films like Sex in the City and The Fast and the Furious are just the same as Somers town as throughout their whole film they are advertising and promoting products.
@ MattyClarky – I'm not sure that those are the sorts of films that Shane Meadows would like to measure himself against. Saying that a film is better than Sex and the City is a bit of a backhanded compliment.
Although the advertsing may not be subtle and there may be various references to the railway company, the film's meanings and symbolism still lies beneath.
@ kali13 – I resent having to dig for the meaning of a film underneath product placement.
I like Shane Meadows as a director, and I wasn't happy about writing this post – there are few enough British directors managing to make films – but it had to be said that on the evidence of Somers Town the funding had a negative effect.
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Sorry, all my quote marks seem to have vanished - my post will read like nonsense. Let me go in and try to fix it...
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
I'm really sorry about the above quotes - something seems to have happened to the 'quote' code. I'll investigate. Here's the post with conventional quotes:
"I haven't seen this film yet but I think its quite sad that this film is getting such bad press over its funding, what makes a movie is whether it's any good or not"
@ someboy89 - in the last line of my post I said,
"I haven't been distracted from the merits of Somers Town by the issue of its funding - I just don't think it's a very good film."
I really don't think I'm being naive about film funding, I just resent watching something that seems so focussed on persuading me to love a brand.
"What some people don't seem to get is that major films like Sex in the City and The Fast and the Furious are just the same as Somers town as throughout their whole film they are advertising and promoting products."
@ MattyClarky - I'm not sure that those are the sorts of films that Shane Meadows would like to measure himself against. Saying that a film is better than Sex and the City is a bit of a backhanded compliment.
"Although the advertsing may not be subtle and there may be various references to the railway company, the film's meanings and symbolism still lies beneath."
@ kali13 - I resent having to dig for the meaning of a film underneath product placement.
I like Shane Meadows as a director, and I wasn't happy about writing this post - there are few enough British directors managing to make films - but it had to be said that on the evidence of Somers Town the funding had a negative effect.
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EmmaW, i can see what you mean about not wanting to have to dig beneath to find a film's meaning, but i think thats personal prefernce. i like my films to make me think, and to find meaning beneath what you are outwardly shown is what i think great films make you do. Great films make us think about ourselves, and thats what Meadows does, maybe not on the surface, but underneath all his films make us think, if we only look at it that we.
Thats kind of rambling, but i hope you get what i mean, and i think what MattyClarky ment was that people never kick up a fuss that Sex and The City has so much product placement and advertising, but the do when Meadows does.
YourEvilSnowQueen
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Thanks for the response, YourEvilSnowQueen. Just to clarify, I like films that make me think as well ;-) It was digging beneath the marketing that I objected to.
In terms of Sex and the City, have a look at what Mark Kermode (the Culture Show's film critic and co-presenter) had to say about it in his blog entry 'Sex, Lies and Merchandise':
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/markkermode/2008/06/sex_lies_and_merchandise.html
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How we can attack Shane Meadows for advertising in this, what seems a good example of British cinema. If people are saying Meadows has “sold out” they are completely wrong. Attacking Meadows for the slightest bit of advertising is completely hypocritical of some viewers and/or critics of such films as “James Bond” “Sex In The City” and other pieces of American based cinema.
There is no way that funding has affected the construction of this film, Apart from maybe the scene with St Pancras station in the background and the use of euro star in the final scene, but how can u compare that to the use of “the Rolex” and “the Aston martin” in most Bond films.
Meadows is one of our only good British directors left, unless we’ve forgotten what masterpieces “This Is England” or “Dead Men’s Shoes” were. Unfortunately advertising is always going to be there unless the film that’s being made isn’t going to get any money. For example in the un-likely event that someone uses euro-star solely because of “Somers Town”, euro star makes money, and therefore “Somers Town” makes money.
In my opinion if a British film such as “Somers Town” makes money, does well, people enjoy it and most importantly if ordinary people who would pay to see this film can relate to it, I don’t think it maters where the money comes from.
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I think the film Somers Town demonstrates what a real British film should be. This film deals with a lot of gritty issues, such as homelessness and immigration. I do however, think that the funding from Eurostar has affected the structure of the film by putting in references of Eurostar. In other peoples' opinions however, the film has become an advert rather than a film. Because these days it's difficult to get money for the production of films, film makers have started going to other sources to receive funding.
This, in my opinion, does not devalue the film, as it is a good film in it's own right. Other people however could see it as devaluing British film, as it is taking away the attention from the main emphasis; a depiction of British society.
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Jari_is_God, i think people have a problem with the advertising Meadows did because the advertising may have changed the nature of the film. In James Bond or sex in the city, the products fit into the story line [im not saying this is right or good] but in Somers Town it is a pivitol piont of the story, not a thing, but a place. A can of Pepsi can be easily slid into a scene, but a place has an effect on the storyline. im not critising Meadows, i think he's great, and as ambercags say's , he depicts British society. But british society cant just get on the Eurostar and its problems will all be over. the eurostar doesn't turn everyones life into colour.
YourEvilSnowQueen
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