Movie review: Somers Town
Somers Town
3 stars
Directed by Shane Meadows
Starring Thomas Turgoose, Piotr Jagiello
By Mina Hochberg
At a next-to-nothing 68 minutes, “Somers Town” is the sore thumb in a summer full of bloated, special effects-driven movies. Directed by Shane Meadows, this black-and-white film is set in the titular working class neighborhood of London. Tomo (Thomas Turgoose) is a young runaway orphan who’s just arrived in Somers Town via train. Alone and fierce, his face is unusually somber and adorable at the same time.
Having no qualms over being a parasite, Tomo quickly befriends another boy, Marek (Piotr Jagiello), a Polish immigrant who lives with his father, a construction worker. Marek gets a lot of love from his father, but he’s also left alone a lot. When his father does happen to be around, Marek is treated more like a pal at the water cooler than a son. In other words, he needs a friend his own age.
Marek is quiet and sensitive, while Tomo is swaggering and virile. Different as they are, they offer each other the opportunity to let down their guard and just be boys. They talk about women, wander the streets and occasionally get up to no-good. Turgoose is remarkably precocious — he made a strong impression as a budding skinhead in Meadows’ last film, “This Is England,” and he instantly makes an impression here as well.
“Somers Town” feels more like a parable than a film, and its brevity leaves you wanting more. If the story is too slender, though, it’s because Meadows is more concerned with documenting than storytelling. Rather than spin an elaborate yarn, he’d rather explore the gritty landscape of this London enclave. To be sure, there’s no better way to delve into the nooks and crannies of a town than by letting a couple of boys loose on its streets.
