Somers Town
Released
- 2008
Director
Stars
Somers Town is a 2008 film directed by Shane Meadows, written by Paul Fraser and produced by Barnaby Spurrier. It stars Thomas Turgoose, Piotr Jagiello, Kate Dickie, Perry Benson, and Elisa Lasowski. It was entirely funded by Eurostar. The film is a study of social environment in the Somers Town area of London, largely shot in black and white. Somers Town follows two teenage boys Tomo and Marek, adrift in an adult world, who develop a mutual trust and form an unlikely friendship. Marek, a Polish immigrant, lives with his father who drinks too much. Tomo runs away to London from a lonely, difficult life in the Midlands. On the train, he sits beside a single young woman with whom he strikes up a conversation. The shot then shifts to Marek and his father who are preparing their evening meal. It is revealed that they are from Poland. Marek's father engages his son in conversation as he drinks beer. The camera then cuts to Tomo - because he is too young to buy alcoholic drinks, he asks a stranger to buy some cans of beer for him. He eventually persuades a stranger to purchase four cans of Carling for him which he says are 'for his dad'. While sitting outside drinking, three boys
Source: Somers Town
on Freebase,
licensed under CC-BY
Other content from Wikipedia,
licensed under the GFDL
Got something to say about Somers Town?
Login and have your say.
-
Somers Town (2008) is fresh and lighthearted coming of age story that has real-life charm and drama. It is serious yet fun look at growing up. The people you meet and the situations you get into, as well as your dreams, truly shape who you are. Being filmed in black and white gives it a clean feel that enables you to focus on the events and characters without distraction. The original music by Gaven Clark is refreshing and perfectly fits the style of the film.
Tomo (Thomas Turgoose) has just arrived by train in the Somers Town area of London after leaving his hometown of Nottingham. He is an extremely open and chatty young man that befriends a lady, Jane, on the train. Meanwhile, Marek (Piotr Jagiello) is walking with his dad (Ireneusz Czop) to his job where he is working on a new track for the train. Marek goes off on the town taking photographs along the way. That evening Marek and his dad head home for some diner that Marek cooks up in their cramped kitchen. They enjoy each others company and have fun and open chats about life while learning the English language. They moved from Poland looking for a new start after his marriage failed. The shy and reserved Marek takes to the streets again to photograph at night after his father goes out for a nightcap.
Tomo is out on the streets trying to get someone to buy him some beer. With only an army style duffel bag and the clothes on his back he is in for a rough road to make a life in London. When he is relaxing some local kids come upon him and start slightly pestering him for a drink and start bothering him a little - after they finish his beer he attempts to get away. They catch up to him in the ally and beat him up really bad and take all of his things. With no money or clothes and nowhere to turn he looks up Jane (Kate Dickie) from the train. She buys him lunch and gives him a little cash to get the train back home to where he ran away from.
Tomo spots Marek looking and some pictures in the restaurant. He is taken back by the beauty of the women in the photographs, as is Marek. Marie is from Paris and works as a local lunch spot. The two quickly become friends and start what will become a very memorable summer of their younger years. They meet Graham, who is an odd neighbor that recruits the boys to help him with a little venture of his and offers life guidance. Without his dad’s knowledge Marek has Tomo staying in his room with him. They spend their days pining for Maria and just being teenagers in London.
9 out of 10 - I really liked this movie. The true to life and sometimes crass script is flawlessly acted by the cast. It has a soothing quality and the moments of difficulty offset by funny situations bring this film together so well. I wish the movie never ended; I even watch it again a couple days later and enjoyed it even more. Shane Meadows directed this amazing movie. This is a wonderful film for just about everyone to watch - be sure to pick up this independent film when it comes out on DVD in December.
Dain Binder
http://www.dainsmoviereviews.com/2009/09/somers-town-movie-review.htmlSeptember 7, 2009 at 6:00 a.m. UTC
dbin78 on Somers Town