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Shane Meadows & New British Cinema

Shane Meadows has undoubtedly carved a career as a filmmaker of New British Cinema. Winning critical acclaim for both writing and directing he comes from a rather unassuming background in middle England which has ultimately provided the stirring content to his creativity.

Cinema focusing in particular on the British gangster scene has in recent years been glamourised by the likes of Guy Ritchie’s Snatch, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and subsequent imitators in Layer Cake and The Business. Ritchie introduced a more ‘Americanised’ style to film using high-paid internationally recognised actors such as Brad Pitt and New Hollywood methods of cinematography. Not least the spectacle of fast paced scenes set to popular music. It reinforced a series of representations of Britain or more specifically London rife with gangsters, organised crime and brutality. Meadows’ success is in his accuracy of portraying ‘villains’ without spectacle taking precedence over the narrative.

Drawing on his youth on a council estate in East Staffordshire Meadows’ films arguably contains autobiographical content. Noted in the film This is England (2006), a young boy growing up with an absent father represents issues in Meadows’ own childhood. The film also focuses on the development of characters from small communities similar to his. This is also tackled in his film Dead Man’s Shoes (2004). In the latter, the ‘gangsters’ are represented in a believable way shirking the London based, leather jacket wearing cockney geezers.

The villains are considered to be more believable by both their characterisation of deeply flawed human beings and their portrayal by the actors who play them. The weaknesses found reinforce the reality of the situation. In one scene in Dead Man’s Shoes a group of thugs leave their flat carrying weapons intent on attacking the main character. They do not succeed. On arriving back the flat is trashed with threats daubed in red paint all over the walls. The bravado instantly evaporates as the viewer is introduced to several reaction shots of intimidated, anxious and perturbed men.

Another technique Meadows’ successfully applies to his work is the use of improvisation. Having studied dramatic arts and starred in films Meadows has chosen this method to invoke again the reality and believability of the scene. This has often led to darkly humorous dialogue. Above all it leaves the viewer with an overwhelming sense of having witnessed or become involved in the events.

Therefore although the content of his films never shy away from delivering brutal, shocking scenes, the use of distinctive characterisation and the style of performance provide the genre with a sense of substance over the usual spectacle associated with British gangster films. Shane Meadows has been recognised and awarded accordingly for this input.

Article by Hollie Miller

www.hollie-miller.com

Tagged as: British Cinema, British gangster scene, crime, screen, Shane Meadows, This is England