A 12-year-old boy edging into adolescence without a father, his dad having lost his life the year before in the Falkland Islands War. A gang of skinheads -- tough guys in their teens and early twenties who shave their heads, wear Ben Sherman polo shirts, and Dr. Martens boots, and listen to ska music -- walk the streets in Shaun's neighborhood, and one day they start picking on him. Shaun, however, shows he can give as good as he gets, and gang leader Woody (Joe Gilgun) takes a liking to the boy. Woody takes Shaun under his wing, and he starts hanging out with the skins, getting advice on dressing right from Woody's girlfriend,(Vicky McClure), and learning about Jamaican music from West Indian skinhead Milky (Andrew Shim). However, the gang begins to change when Combo (Stephen Graham) is released from prison and returns to the neighborhood; like many skinheads, Combo has been recruited by the National Front, an openly racist right-wing political party, and soon the gang begins to fracture, with Combo taking one faction toward violence and petty crime against blacks, Indians, and Pakistanis, while Woody and his friends follow a more benign path.
The film pays close attention to the British working classes and this comes across in the poster. This is mainly achieved through the location. Two blocks of council flats are visible over the fence and these carry connotations of a low standard of living and a real shortage of money both of which are associated with the working classes. Also the title helps to create a gritty atmosphere. Instead of having clean colours it has been given a worn effect that contributes to the overall feel of the poster.
Another major element of the film is nationalism, which is represented on the poster by the use of colour on the title. The red, white and blue creates a strong association with this theme due to the strong link to the Union Jack and Great Britain.
'' A target audience can usually be noticed by the age of the characters used for filming, however Meadows has used a various amount of different ages. Also the decision of Meadows giving different character types and personalities for instance Shaun, Combo and Woody's contrast. A lot of people could say that this film is targeted to people who grew up with this era surrounding them, which is possible as Shane Meadows has included iconic values from this era such as the music the people enjoyed listening too, games people enjoyed playing with etc. Those who grew up with this era surrounding them would find they could relate to the issues which where dealt with in this time such as violence, skin heads, racism, and would also have a background knowledge on Margret Thatcher and feel like they are apart of these issues. I also think that is is a warning for those who never grew up in this era, so this would mean it is also targeted at young adults (teenagers), this is be because it is wanted to be seen as a message or warning, as the title of the film is This Is England and not This Was England, it is Meadows way of warning the teenagers that this is still happening now. Another reason why teenagers can relate to this is because they can also link to issues with are dealt with, for example growing up without a fatherly figure can relate to Shaun's character, and how he also got involved with the wrong crowd of people. ''
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