Made in Britain (1982) (TV)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Alan Clarke

Writer:

David Leland (writer)

Release Date:

25 February 1982 (UK)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

Trevor is an angry young man.

Plot:

Trevor is a 16 year old, sometimes-violent skinhead with no regard for authority, and would rather spend...

Plot Keywords:

Social Worker | Skinhead | England | Prison | Social Realism

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Vass Anderson	...	Canteen Manager
Madelenine Athansi
Allister Bain	...	Hopkins
David Baldwin	...	Leroy
Kim Benson	...	Job Centre Girl #1
John Bleasdale	...	Policeman #1
Richard Bremmer	...	Policeman #2
Sean Chapman	...	Barry Giller
Catherine Clarke	...	Job Centre Girl #2
Frankie Cosgrove	...	Viv Parker
Sharon Courtney	...	House Parent
Noel Diacomo	...	Solicitor
Jim Dunk	...	Chef
Virginia Fiol
Christopher Fulford	...	P.C. Anson
Brian Hayes	...	Man on Stairs #1
Ava Hrela
Geoffrey Hutchings	...	Superintendent
Eric Kent
Hyacinth Malcolm
Jean Marlow	...	Job Centre Woman
Cathy Murphy
Garry Patrick		(as Gary Patrick)
Maurice Quick	...	Magistrate
Eric Richard	...	Harry Parker
Terry Richards	...	Errol
Tim Roth	...	Trevor the Skinhead
Jirí Stanislav	...	Man on Stairs #2
Bill Stewart	...	Peter Clive
Steve Sweeney	...	Job Centre Youth (as Stephen Sweeney)
Joan Ware

Also Known As:

Tales Out of School: Made in Britain (UK) (series title)

Runtime:

76 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Norway:15 | UK:18

Trivia:

Tim Roth researched his role by attending National Front meetings, much to his distaste.

Quotes:

[repeated line]
Trevor the Skinhead: Bollocks!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Tim Roth: Made in Britain (2000)

Bravura Performance. Finest Movie Ever Made for TV.

Tim Roth blasted to the forefront of edgy screen actors with this bravura tour-de-force performance for British TV in 1982. Perhaps the finest work of an actor who has had many great performances since. It's a crying shame that most of his fans in North America have yet to see it.

This film blows me away. First saw it ages ago when Public TV in NYC daringly broadcast it unheralded and only one time. They've never shown it again, nor has it ever been shown elsewhere in the US to my knowledge. I was ecstatic recently when I managed to view the film again, for the first time in over 10 years, via a European DVD. Anyone who has seen this film knows what I mean when I say it is insane for it NOT to be released on this side of the Pond. Movies about violent youths and skinheads are not unknown over here, just not this good. The recent American History X, as fine as it was, doesn't manage a fraction of the raw intensity of Made in Britain.

Trevor, a bright, autonomous, 16 year-old is also a seething, out-of-control deeply antisocial skinhead. He's not part of a gang, not part of a clique, he's a totally alienated individual who sees himself as part of a movement. It's not enough to say that Roth is totally believable in the part. The part itself is way, way beyond your expectations when watching a film. Trevor "acts out", but Roth doesn't "act" Trevor, Roth IS Trevor for the duration of this film. Seeing Tim Roth for the first time in this film, you wouldn't initially be sure you were watching an actor play a part. For a while you might believe you were watching a real documentary about a berserk youth committing petty crimes and mayhem and oblivious to the camera. Only through the dramatic pace and development of the film and the inclusion of other, mere mortal, actors might you let the magic slip momentarily and suspect you were watching a fictional movie, but the intensity ratchets up again, and before you know it you're looking at the end-credits and wondering why it's over and wanting more, more!

Trevor on the surface is a deplorable human being: hateful, racist, selfish and violent. At the same time, he is resourceful, intelligent, and in some ways, fragile, yet in others, daring, nothing-left-to-lose. His behavior is self-destructive, his future is bleak. In short, he is fascinating and you spend the whole short 73-minute film alternately shocked, transfixed, amused, bewildered and yet, pulling for him.

If you've seen Tim Roth's other work, and you respect his abilities, you owe it to yourself to do whatever you have to do to see this film. You won't regret it. Meanwhile, someone should cut a deal to release this in North America so all of Tim Roth's hungry fans can see it!