The Stone Roses: Made of Stone

Directed by Shane Meadows, The Stone Roses: Made of Stone is a documentary about one of Britain’s great bands in the late 1980s who redefined the music scene for a brief period of time as they would reunite in 2012 with a concert in their hometown of Manchester. The film follows the group’s rise as an indie band that brought a lot to the music scene and their fall in the mid-1990s and their eventual comeback. The result is a very exciting and enthralling film from Shane Meadows.

In 1989, the Stone Roses released their self-titled debut which came out of nowhere as they went from this cult band from Manchester to becoming the biggest band in Britain. Just as they were destined to rule the world, their momentum was halted by litigation and other legal issues that prevented the band from performing and recording as they would eventually make their return with a second album in late 1994 in which the music scene had change and the band would dissolve two years later. Then in 2012 after years of rumors, the Stone Roses decided to finally reunite for a tour and possibly to make new music as director Shane Meadows would film this reunion as well as cover the band’s history.

Meadows does maintain a unique narrative as it moves back and forth from the band’s history to the announcement of their reunion tour, rehearsals, and concerts in Europe including the climatic three-night performance at Manchester’s Heaton Park. All of which has Meadows showcase four guys trying to not only become friends again but also remember why they enjoyed playing with each other. Through the historical portion of the film, Meadows and editors Matthew Gray, Chris King, and Tobias Zaldua use rare footage including news interviews and such to play into the band’s history as well as their rise and fall. For the reunion section, Meadows and cinematographer Laurie Rose would shoot the portions in black-and-white digital and then into color for the European tour and its climatic show at Heaton Park.

With contributions from sound re-recording mixers John Rogerson and Johnathan Rush, Meadows doesn’t just make the film about the band but also what it meant to people. Especially the people in Manchester as more than a thousand would attend a secret free show as some of them would bring their kids to the show. While there are subtitles for what these people had to say, it is clear that there’s a special place for the Roses as they were one of the bands that really made Manchester one of the coolest places in the world. Meadows doesn’t just add that sense of personal touch as a Mancunian where he also gets Liam Gallagher of Oasis to comment on the band as he would attend their secret show. He also knows when not to film such as a key moment where a show in Amsterdam becomes a disaster as Meadows doesn’t interview the band what happened knowing that something did go wrong and he wanted to give them their space.

Meadows keeps much of the compositions to be simple and to the point in the concert scenes while capturing some of joy in the rehearsals. For the climatic concert in Heaton Park, it does become about Manchester as he would use helicopter aerial footage to capture the city coming alive. Especially as it plays to an event that many Mancunians think would never happen as the Roses deliver full-on.

The Stone Roses: Made of Stone is a phenomenal film from Shane Meadows. Not only is this film a must-see for fans of the Stone Roses but it’s also a film that anyone who loves British indie music should see. Especially as it plays to a band that were set to rule the world as they’re given another chance to do so. In the end, The Stone Roses: Made of Stone is a remarkable film from Shane Meadows.

Shane Meadows Films: (Small Time) - (Twenty Four Seven) - (A Room for Romeo Brass) - (Once Upon a Time in the Midlands) - (Dead Man’s Shoes) - This is England - (Somers Town) - (Le Donk & Scor-zay-zee)

© thevoid99 2015

This is England

Written and directed by Shane Meadows, This is England is the story about a young boy who becomes part of the skinhead culture of the early 80s only to later join up with a more extreme group of skinheads. The film explores a period in the early 80s where a boy feels lost following his father’s death in the Falklands War as he comes of age in the new culture he becomes a part of. Starring Thomas Turgoose, Joe Gilgun, Andrew Shim, Vicky McClure, Stephen Graham, and Rosamund Hanson. This is England is a harrowing yet compelling film from Shane Meadows.

Lost in the death of his father from the Falklands War, 12-year old Shaun Field (Thomas Turgoose) comes across a group of skinheads led by Woody (Joe Gilgun) who notices the troubled Shaun. Shaun befriends Woody and the fellow skinheads that include Milky (Andrew Shim) as he later becomes part of a group of fun-going skinheads who likes to vandalize abandoned homes and such. One night at a party, Woody’s old friend Combo (Stephen Graham) makes a surprise visit as he returns from prison hoping to lead the group. When he expresses more nationalist and racist views, Woody decides to leave the group along with Milky and a few others though Shaun decides to stay.

With Combo taking Shaun in, Shaun and Combo attend nationalists meetings that expresses views of racism as Shaun feels like he’s doing something as Combo tells him it would make Shaun’s dad proud. After some antics to express their views including robbing a shopkeeper (Kriss Dosanjh) to get things for a birthday party for Smell (Rosamund Hanson) as the others including Woody feel uncomfortable towards Combo. When Combo tries to make his advances towards Woody’s girlfriend Lol (Vicky McClure), the result would later lead to disaster during a moment with Shaun, Milky, and a few others where Shaun would witness something terrifying.

The film is a coming-of-age story about a 12-year old boy lost in his grief and feeling alone where he becomes part of a skinhead group to feel like he belongs somewhere. When an older skinhead returns from prison, the boy tags along with him to fulfill the lost father figure that he craved for only to venture into a much darker world. It’s a story largely told from the perspective of a boy who feels like the world has become complicated as he really feels uncomfortable talking about his dad. When he’s part of this group of young skinheads, there is a sense like he’s not alone as he just goes out there and have fun only to later be part of something more extreme.

The screenplay, that features un-credited contributions by Paddy Considine, is based on Meadows’ own childhood experiences during the early 1980s as it reflects on a very tumultuous period during Margaret Thatcher’s tenure as prime minister. It’s a script that starts off being a study of alienation for a boy who doesn’t fit in with certain cliques only to stumble upon this small group of skinheads who feel like they don’t fit in with anything. Then it becomes a story about family where this boy feels like he finally belongs somewhere until Combo arrives and starts to shake things up. Combo is a very interesting character as he’s this man who just returned from prison and feels very slighted by what’s happening in the country as he riles Shaun up by mentioning the Falkland Wars. He would become this father-figure of sorts for Shaun though Combo acts more like a kid than an adult.

Shane Meadows’ direction is mesmerizing for the way he re-creates early 1980s England as it is set in a world that is outside of London. Shot in Nottingham, Meadows creates a film where it’s about this alienation where these kids and young adults feel like they’ve been ostracized by Thatcher and the rest of Britain. Meadows opens the film with newsreel footage of what was happening at the time to establish this gap between what is happening where things are both good and bad at the time of Thatcher. This then leads to a scene where Shaun is waking up hearing Thatcher’s words as he walks up to school where he would get into a fight.

The direction is always fluid and engaging for the way Meadows presents the scenes as if he’s making a film that looks like it’s from the 1960s although it set in the early 1980s. Meadows also creates a very sense of freedom for the way he makes his actors interact with one another or to create some form of chaos. There’s also an intimacy in the way Meadows frames his actors in a shot to establish the sense of alienation they’re feeling. When it’s in a group shot, there’s a sense of something troubling will happen to keep the energy of the film going. Overall, Meadows creates a truly engrossing coming-of-age film about a boy who becomes part of a unique cultural group.

Cinematographer Danny Cohen does brilliant work with the film‘s very straightforward yet grainy photography to give the film a very timeless look as if it was shot in the 60s with some colorful scenery for the exteriors while the interiors have a more intimate setting. Editor Chris Wyatt does terrific work with the editing by utilizing rhythmic cuts for some of the intense moments as well as creating montages for some of livelier moments of the film. Production designer Mark Leese and art director Caroline Grebbell do fantastic work with the set pieces such as the graffiti in some of the locations to array of 80s objects in some of the rooms the characters encounter.

Costume designer Jo Thompson does wonderful work with the costumes from the jeans and suspender look of the skinheads to the punk-new wave look of Smell. Sound designers Matt Hall and Ben Harvey, along with sound editor Greg Marshall, do superb work with the sound to complement the surroundings of the locations as well as the atmosphere of some of the party scenes. The film’s score by Ludovico Einaudi is excellent for its plaintive and melancholic piano score to play up the drama. Music supervisor John Boughtwood creates a phenomenal soundtrack that is a mix of 80s pop from acts like Dexy’s Midnight Runners and Soft Cell to a wide array of reggae music ranging from Toots and the Mayalls, the Specials, Lee “Scratch” Perry, and many others along with a soul piece by Percy Sledge.

The casting by Des Hamilton and Louise Meadows is amazing for the ensemble that is created as it features some very memorable small roles from Jack O’Connell as Pukey, Andrew Ellis as Gadget, Chanel Cresswell as Lol’s sister Kelly, Kriss Dosanjh as the Indian shopkeeper Mr. Sandhu, and Jo Hartley as Shaun’s mother Cynthia. Vicky McClure is very good as Lol while Rosamund Hanson is wonderful as the kind, new wave girl Smell. Andrew Shim is excellent as the black skinhead Milky while Joe Gilgun is terrific as the kinder, inviting skinhead Woody. Stephen Graham is brilliant as the charming but extreme Combo who spouts nationalist ideals as he takes the young Shaun under his wing. Finally, there’s Thomas Turgoose as the young Shaun where Turgoose gives a marvelous performance as a troubled boy feeling lost as he finds family in this group of skinheads.

This is England is an extraordinary yet eerie film from Shane Meadows. Featuring a top-notch ensemble cast including outstanding performances from Thomas Turgoose and Stephen Graham. It’s a film that revels into the harsh world of Thatcher-era Britain where things were in chaos and people felt like they weren’t part of the country. It’s also a compelling coming-of-age film that is told from the perspective of a boy growing in those times. In the end, This is England is a tremendous film from Shane Meadows.

Shane Meadows Films: (Small Time) - (Twenty Four Seven) - (A Room for Romeo Brass) - (Once Upon a Time in the Midlands) - (Dead Man’s Shoes) - (Somers Town) - (Le Donk & Scor-zay-zee)

© thevoid99 2012