Following the double-barrelled powerhouse of tumultuous drama and often harrowing emotions that was Dead Man’s Shoes and This is England, Shane Meadows avoids the very real possibility of directorial typecasting with Somers Town. Evolved from a short, Somers Town casts aside the dark narrative drives that personify Meadows’ greatest hits to date, but his fans will be comfortably familiarised with his common themes of unconventional bonds and self-discovery shot with a liberal dosage of naturalistic humour.
Also returning from This is England is Thomas Turgoose, cast as Tommo, a young lad who has run away from his Midlands home in the hope that the grass is greener in the Big Smoke. A chance meeting with Polish immigrant Marek (Piotr Jagiello) gives him a much needed ally in his so far unwelcoming new home. Although Marek lives with his father, he shares an essence of big city loneliness with Tommo and the pair bond over teenage shenanigans as well a mutual love of glamorous French waitress Maria.
Aside from one glorious scene, Somers Town is shot in black and white, a decision that not only gives a timeless sheen to this slice-of-life style snapshot, but one that also emboldens the intimacy and charming looseness of the boys’ journey. Comparatively statuesque compared to the cheeky urchin that emerged with mature panache in This is England, it’s heartening that Turgoose’s initial promise has continued to evolve in an altogether mellower role. Not that Jagiello is at all overshadowed; his debut performance is testament to Meadows’ continuing powers at extracting the best from young actors and his interplay with Turgoose is one of Somers Town’s most immediate delights.
The teenagers’ personal renewal – the discovery of who they are amongst an essentially alien community – reflects the changing identity of Somers Town itself. As the backdrop of the development of St. Pancras Station emerges, the area’s own fight for identity emerges. With the inevitable gentrification of the locality comes cosmopolitanism, but the likely cost will be the longstanding locals that inhibits the outskirts of the film; Perry Benson’s comically Del Boy-styled trader Graham and Huggy Leaver’s traditional café owner.
But above all else, Somers Town is wonderfully optimistic with Marek and Tommo’s coming of age tribulations glowing with the glorious future that first love, the first illicit drink and the development of life-long friendships all promise. It’s a departure for Meadows, but, unsurprisingly, effortlessly brilliant.
