This Is England (2006) — Art of the Title

This Is England (2006) — Art of the Title

This is England Film Opening Evaluation



The final film opening that I have chosen to evaluate is ‘This is England’ - a British film produced in 2006. I have chosen this because it is my favourite opening of any film and although unconventional compared to many, I feel that the first three minutes set the scene better than most.

The first thing that I noticed when watching the sequence is the font in which the titles are written in. The typeface is extremely gritty and bold, hugely similar to the types of fonts that would be written on the dog tags of soldiers fighting in the war (the Falkland’s War is is strongly referenced throughout the film.) Furthermore, when the actors’ names are displayed over the top of shots, there are always long serial numbers beneath or around them, also reffering to the soldiers’ dog tag.

The next thing that is apparent is that the entirety of the opening sequence appears to be archived footage from the mid 80’s. It is obvious none of the film is filmed in the 00’s. All of the archive footage has a lot of grain and is noticeable that it is old and not shot with modern technology (which is relevant to the films setting). Here we get short glimpses of hugely iconic things from the decade, such as the skinhead culture, back to the future and the royal wedding. Although none of this is at all relevant to the plot of the film, I feel that it is massively important to the overall feel of the film and it definitely gets the viewer into the correct mind-set to watch the upcoming two hours. Not only this but the archive footage helps the audience understand the culture of the time the film was set, this includes the music scene, the fashion scene, current affairs and political movements. If this opening sequence wasn’t featured the viewer may be left confused as to why characters are wearing certain clothes and have certain political views for example.

As well as positive issues, some clips touch on sensitive issues, such as racism. Somewhere in the middle of a sequence, we see an Asian family appearing to be fixing a window that has been smashed - assumably vandalised. Other examples of sensitive issues are clips of people being carried out of the warzone with blown off legs. These sorts of themes give the audience the sense of how explicit the film is going to be and lets them know from early on that this isn’t a film or the faint hearted.

Ironically and somewhat satirically however, behind all of this footage we hear a very optimistic, cheerful song, which also adds to the cultural reference as it is once again from the 1980’s. Nevertheless, I feel that the music works very well, and in points (when the soldier is blown up/ when the flare is thrown) the shots are edited in time with the stand-alone beats in the song for added effect.

Another thing that I have noticed is that this opening sequence strongly references patriotism, as we see British flags appear frequently. For example when the three men have the union jack wrapped around them. Once again this is a hugely strong theme in the film itself, so doing this is a way of introducing it to us early, so we know roughly what to expect. More obviously though, it shows us that it is a British film set in the UK.

Finally I noticed that politics is featured in the sequence frequently. Margaret Thatcher appears multiple times in the opening sequence, but not in a positive manner. She looks as if she is incapable of her job in the clips (such as looking out of control when driving the truck) this is a reference to who the director feels is to blame for the destruction at the time.

In conclusion, although this is not a conventional film opening – as we get no character introductions or plot information etc. I feel that it is hugely effective in setting the scene for the viewer.