Review: Somers Town (2009)

[Jonathan Moya]

Somers Town
 (2009)
A Movie Review
By
Jonathan Moya
4.5 Out of 5 Stars or A

The Plot: (from Allmovie.com)

Tomo has just turned 16, and as a result he's no longer under parental
care. Eager to escape the Midlands and seek out a better life in
London, Tomo sets out for the big city and strikes up a friendship
with Polish immigrant Marek while traversing the streets of Somers
Town. Marek is a quiet and sensitive boy who harbors a growing
interest in photography and still lives with his father. But Marek's
father is a hopeless drunk, and doesn't even notice when his son
invites Tomo to share their apartment. Most days, Tomo and Marek are
content to pass earning some quick cash from an eccentric neighbor,
wandering the streets, and admiring a pretty French waitress named
Maria who works at a nearby café. Eventually, the two become obsessed
with the girl and begin tracking her every move. But one day Maria
simply vanishes, leaving the boys to feel as if they have lost their
muse. Later that night, Tomo and Marek decide to dull their pain by
sharing a bottle. Of course, it's this very same night that Marek's
father discovers his son has taken in a new roommate, and Tomo is
swiftly evicted. As a result, the growing bond between the two boys is
put to the ultimate test.

The Review:

At the end of This is England, loosely based on the experiences of its
director Shane Meadows, the young Midlands skinhead Shaun (played by
the fabulously talented Thomas Turgoose) throws a St. George's flag
into the sea and watches it sink-- along with his childhood.   For
Shaun, adolescent style has turned into the dragon of politics and
bigotry, killing its own in blind rage.  Shaun stands between shore
and sea (a la Antoine Doinel of Truffaut's The 400 Blows), between
past and uncertain future.  He has lost his real family (his mother)
and abandoned his racist brothers who have adopted the politics of
violence.   In Somers Town (again based on memories of Meadows past)
Tomo (Thomas Turgoose again) is on a train, shuttling away from his
Midland family to London, his own jaunty confidence his travel mate.

Somers Town is the colloquial name for the area around North London
that houses the St Pancreas depot for Eurostar's Chunnel train.
(Eurostar provided major funding for the film project.)   The
locomotives crisscross under the English Channel and do the London-
Paris route in 2 hours and 15 minutes or the London-Brussels trip in 1
hour and 51 minutes, according to the official literature.
Befittingly its community is also a way station, filled with Eastern
European migrants and migrating lower-to-lower middle class Brits.

For Shane Meadows and frequent writing collaborator Paul Fraser Somers
Town is also a fit for adolescent-- the quiet stopping place between
childhood innocent with its hints of summer memories and the burdens,
responsibilities and addictions of adulthood.  The group which
welcomed the child passing through under the tunnel in This is England
is now a marauding pack intent on stripping Tomo of money and
baggage.  He is beaten, bruised and battered; the bruises on his face
visible for the rest of Somers Town black and white life.  Tomo
stumbles upon his innocent expression in the photo bug Marek (Pitor
Jagiello), a gangly, shy and lonely Polish youth who wanders about
while his father (Ireneusz Czop) works or hangs out with his mates.

Marek's photo muse is the much older French waitress Maria (Elisa
Lasowski).  The innocent triangle that forms between the three gives
Somers Town its charming Trufautian Jules et Jim echo.  The mid-
picture lark through streets and parks with a found wheelchair turned
magic vehicle is the last imaginative and innocent journey before
adult rivalries and responsibilities.  Maria's last words before her
sudden disappearance to Paris echoes Tomo and Marek relationship.
"Remember, I love you both the same."  The three minutes of color
video with Tomo, Marek and Maria reunited in Paris is both Truffaut
homage and Eurostar travel poster.  The embrace and kiss between them
under the bright light streaming off Sacre Coeur's dome makes for the
perfect ending to Somers Town-- and adolescence.

The perfectly caught details of that reverie raise Somers Town above
bromance into minor masterpiece.   Marek and Tomo teeter-totering on
too small carousel horses in the park while drinking and eating the
wine, bread and cheese lunch they bought for the all too soon gone
Maria.   Tomo's outfit:  the way big trousers and summer dress tucked
into his trousers - the booty of a launderette raid to replace a
ruined tracksuit.  The boy not quite ready for responsibility, but
forced to be his own mother and father-- his evolution from seeing
himself as "useless waste of space" to finding his own space.  Marek's
photo obsession is an attempt to understand the world, love and his
space in it, his stopgap before the inevitable child-parent split
forges the uneasy compromise.  He and Tomo are perfect mates.

Somers Town runs barely 67 minutes, almost a midday fantasy.  Still,
it is long enough to cover the awkward years.    It gets an A.

The Credits:   (From AllMovie.com)

Shane Meadows  - Director Barnady Spurrier  - Producer Paul Fraser  -
Screenwriter Natasha Braier  - Cinematographer Gavin Clarke  -
Composer (Music Score) Richard Graham  - Editor Lisa Marie Hall  -
Production Designer Nick Mercer  - Executive Producer Greg Nugent  -
Executive Producer Robert Saville  - Executive Producer Jo Thompson  -
Costume Designer Danny Cowley  - Sound/Sound Designer

With:   Piotr Jagiello ... Marek;  Ireneusz Czop ... Mariusz;  Perry
Benson ... Graham;  Thomas Turgoose ... Tomo ; Kate Dickie ... Jane;
Maria...Elisa Lasowski ;  Huggy Leaver ... Cafe Owner

Copyright 2009 by Jonathan Moya