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Somers Town

Shane Meadows Shows His Gentle Side

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From Marcy Dermansky, About.com Guest

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Piotr Jagielloand Thomas Turgoose in "Somers Town"

Film Forum
Two teenage boys become friends in Shane Meadows' lovely film Somers Town. Shy Polish emigre Marek (Piotr Jagiello) and brutish, homeless Tomo (Thomas Turgoose) seem like unlikely companions, but after their paths cross in a small coffee shop in London, they can't seem to shake one another.
Mugged his first night in London, Tomo needs a place to stay; left alone days and most nights while his father (Itrnrusz Czop) works a factory job and drinks with friends, Marek requires diversion. What is surprising is that the two boys actually like each other. What is also surprising: Tomo and Piotr don't get into trouble. Besides a stolen bag of laundry and one night of drinking, they don't engage in general mischief. Their daily ramblings consist of innocent pleasures, from hanging out beneath a tree to courting a beautiful French waitress at a local cafe.

Fans familiar with Meadows' work will be aware of the filmmaker's departure in theme and style. His last film, This is England, was the story of an impressionable young skin head (in another starring performance by Turgoose), who more than competently bashes in several heads by the film's disturbing end. Prior to that, Meadows directed Dead Man's Shoes, a a particularly nasty revenge thriller.

In contrast, Somers Town, shot in glimmering black and white, reveals a working class England that brims with possibility. There is the giddy chance of finding love in the form of pretty waitress Maria (Elisa Lasowski). There is also the opportunity of gainful employment from Graham (Perry Nelson), a quirky neighbor in Piotr's housing project who offers the boys odd jobs. It seems only natural to expect something untoward to come from this character: an inappropriate sexual advance, perhaps, or refusal to pay up. It turns out, however, that Graham is a good enough bloke. Even Piotr's over-worked father is consistently kind and good.

Meadows' film, however, is no fairytale. The characters in Somers Town are convincingly true. Life need not only be a source of disappointment. Teenage boys can be both sensitive and vulnerable. When dreaming of a trip to Paris to reclaim the girl of their dreams, Tomo and Marek reveal universal desires: such a journey requires a trip to the Eiffel Tower and a buttery croissant.

Somers Town (2009)

Starring: Thomas Turgoose, Piotr Jagiello, Kate Dickie, Perry Benson, Andrew Shim, Ben Porter
Directed by: Shane Meadows
Produced by: Zoe Bell
Genres: Art/Foreign, Comedy and Drama
Running Time: 1 hr. 10 min.
Release Date: July 15th, 2009 (limited)
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Distributors: Film Forum

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