Somers Town

Aroview: A gentle, winsome offering from dir. Shane Meadows, centred on an unlikely friendship between a shy Polish teen, and a knockabout runaway from the Midlands (THIS IS ENGLAND’s standout, Thomas Turgoose).

Shooting in playful black and white (reminiscent of TWENTYFOUR SEVEN), this is a consciously lighter take on hardship and adolescence from the Brit director, replete with a delightful romantic underpinning that overshadows the tougher subject matter usually indispensable in his films. Nothing if not crowd-pleasing though, Meadows’ favoring of a mischievous and uplifting coming-of-age tale is a welcome change of pace.

NZ International Film Festival 2008