Movie Type: Crime Drama, Juvenile Delinquency Film
Themes: Kids in Trouble, Innocence Lost, Inner City Blues
Main Cast: Eric Richard, Tim Roth
Release Year: 1981
Country: UK
Run Time: 90 minutes
Plot
Director Alan Clarke's influential television drama Made in Britain marked the screen debut of actor Tim Roth. Roth plays Trevor, a skinhead with a swastika tattoo on his forehead who lashes out verbally and sometimes physically at everything that surrounds him. Cinematographer Chris Menges (who would go on to win Oscars for his work on The Killing Fields and The Mission), gets his camera right in Roth's snarling face, as the film tracks Trevor's progress through the British justice system. In the courtroom, charged with attacking a Pakistani man and vandalizing his store, Trevor displays absolutely no remorse as he matter-of-factly admits that he knew the man would have to be hospitalized for his injuries. Trevor's social worker, Harry (Eric Richard), recognizes Trevor's intelligence, but he's running out of ways to convince Trevor to straighten out his life. Harry takes him to a juvenile detention center for "assessment," after which he'll be sentenced. Trevor immediately dismisses Peter (Bill Stewart), the put-upon supervisor of the center, as a "wanker." He meets his black roommate, Errol (Terry Richards), whom he quickly convinces to come out with him on a car-stealing, glue-sniffing, job-center-vandalizing day trip. Brazenly returning to the detention center in a stolen car, Trevor eventually provokes Peter into locking him in a classroom, so a police superintendent (Geoffrey Hutchings) can harangue him about the hopeless path his life is taking. Trevor refuses to accept the center's (and society's) standards for "good behavior," raging that they all just want everyone to follow the rules and keep their mouths shut. The script was written by David Leland (Wish You Were Here) and the songs on the soundtrack are by the anarchist hardcore band the Exploited. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
Review
A grim, unsparing look at disaffected youth in Thatcher's England, Alan Clarke's Made in Britain features a brilliantly feral screen debut by actor Tim Roth (Reservoir Dogs). Like Mike Leigh and Ken Loach, Clarke got his start as a director working in television, and he shares their interest in exposing the nasty underbelly of British life. Unlike those directors, Clarke was never able to turn his powerful and influential television work into a successful film career. Clarke's work holds up well, though, as evidenced by this film. Roth plays Trevor, a young skinhead. The film follows Trevor's path -- from court to a detention center to the streets to a prison cell -- with an unflinching eye. Roth has said that he learned much about acting on film from cinematographer Chris Menges. From the opening frames of the film, Menges' captures Roth -- swastika tattoo between his eyes and a rueful smile on his face, swaggering toward the camera -- and the young actor makes an incredibly strong impression. Made in Britain is a confrontational film, much like Leigh's Naked, in which the main character engages in atrocious behavior and says hateful and destructive things, but with a fierce intelligence that can't be easily dismissed. Trevor is a product of a depressed and repressive society, he knows it, and he relishes the opportunity to point it out to the people he sees as his captors. A denizen of the juvenile system for too long, he's heard all their arguments for "improving" his life, and lets them know he's perfectly happy with himself as he is. In the end, the only lesson Trevor can learn is that, as strongly as he believes in his words, brute force will finally shut him up. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
Cast
Vass Anderson - Canteen Manager; Sean Chapman - Barry Giller; Jim Dunk - Chef; Christopher Fulford - P.C. Anson; Geoffrey Hutchings - Superintendent; Jean Marlow - Job Centre Woman; Cathy Murphy; Eric Richard - Harry Parker; Terry Richards - Errol; Tim Roth - Trevor; Jiri Stanislav - Man on Stairs #2; Bill Stewart - Peter Clive; David Baldwin - Leroy
Credit
Monica Howe - Costume Designer, Roy Stevens - First Assistant Director, Alan Clarke - Director, Stephen Singleton - Editor, Jamie Leonard - Production Designer, Chris Menges - Cinematographer, Guy Travers - Production Manager, Margaret Matheson - Producer, David Leland - Screenwriter, The Exploited - Featured Music
