Made in Britain

From the minute Made in Britain kicks off, with a 17-year-old Tim Roth with skinhead and a swastika tattoo between his eyebrows, slouching into the juvenile court to the strains of The Exploited, the energy never flags. Clarke's patented loping Steadicam follows Trevor (Roth) as he goes from assessment centre to job centre to sniffing glue with a fellow ne'er-do-well to stealing a car and throwing bricks through a Pakistani's front window, seemingly bent on pushing the system to its limits. Trevor doesn't give a f***, and in an amazing second act, set entirely in a basement room, he tells the authorities what he thinks of them: "I'm a star, mate. I'm in exactly the right place at the right time."

Trevor is hateful - he's racist, bullying, utterly selfish and dangerous, but he's also so bright and eloquent that the main feeling on watching the film is wonder at a society that could possible have produced people like this. David Leland, who wrote the film, speculated years later that Trevor would probably have gone on to work in the Stock Exchange in the late Eighties - he might well have been one of the well-heeled cronies of Gary Oldman's Bez in Clarke's 1988 football hooliganism film, The Firm. In the depressed and fearful Britain of 1982, Trevor's manic energy and contempt has no outlet - once Thatcherite policies had helped to boost the British economy, his disbelief in "society" would have been totally at home on the stock market. As Thatcher famously remarked, "There is no such thing as society", and Made in Britain shows how she caused such a state of affairs to come about.

It's also very funny, in a sick kind of way.

The late great Alan Clarke (Scum) brings us Made in Britain, a tough and uncompromising (though not actually physically violent) character study of a bored and angry teenager, played by Tim Roth, one of 'Fatcher's' children. The films rather flat narrative follows (both in terms of plot and camera movement) him through his refusal to 'conform' to the authority. Contrary to what a previous reviewer has said, it was not the intention for us, the audience, to believe that he must be forced to conform. The key in the film is that he never does conform, and that for all his obvious faults (racism and rebellion, it seems, a product of a right-wing and suppressive society) he retains the courage to stick to what he believes in. Rather than an anti-hero, Tim Roth's character seems to be more of a anarchist anti-authoritarian (rather like Alan Clarke himself) who is locked away for admitting to what he believes in.

So if you're in the mood, settle back and watch a film that packs a powerful punch. Probably most enjoyable if you're a little bit of an anarchist yourself (everyone else will most likely just be offended by it). Damned authority.

I was lucky enough to get this on DVD for £5 and when I bought it, I knew little about it. Upon first viewing I was amazed at the performance of Tim Roth playing Trevor because he was believable and he brought realism to the character. I could see how this created controversy being broadcasted on television but this is commendable. The script is excellent by David Leland who went on to co-write Mona Lisa starring Bob Hoskins. It is these sorts of films and actors that make me proud to be British and I recommend this to everyone if you can find it. 9 out of 10.

Made in britain is a gritty play/movie that shows the mentality of some of the youth during Thatcherite Britain when the Tory Government were about greed and cared nothing for the high unenmployment rate and crime rate.Tim Roth plays a youth who feels that the system has let him down and rebels against all authority and anybody who wants to help him. The language is very hard which only adds to the quality of the film and the acting from Tim Roth is of the highest standard especially considering this was his first big project. It is suprisingly fresh and has not dated and is a good reminder of how thing were for some people in the early eighties and also how the youth didnt want to help themselves because they felt society owed them something because we had the worst government of the twentieth century. 8 out of 10.

The extremely talented Tim Roth made his acting debut with this powerful little drama. Roth plays Trevor, a teen aged skinhead with no regard for the rules of society. As the story opens, he's being sent to a detention centre while authorities try to decide what to do about him. He doesn't have any real interest in changing his ways, and would prefer to spend his time stealing things, spouting racial hatred, and being a public nuisance in general.

One can tell that 'Made in Britain' was originally made for television. It doesn't attempt to be overtly cinematic, but then it doesn't need to. David Leland wrote the intelligent script, making this an "angry young man" story with a memorable central character. One watches this unfold, doubtful that Trevor will be redeemable at some point, and only vaguely hopeful. When officials try to show him the error of his ways, he shows no interest. His compulsive need to defy authority overrides everything, and he simply refuses to stay out of trouble.

Directed by Alan Clarke ("Scum"), and scored by anarchist musicians The Exploited, this gets a lot of juice from the magnetic performance by Roth. I'm sure people who watched 'Made in Britain' when it was new could sense a brilliant career in the making. Roth is also very nicely supported by Terry Richards, as the impressionable Errol, Bill Stewart, as Peter, Geoffrey Hutchings, as the superintendent, and Sean Chapman ("Hellraiser" 1 and 2) as Barry.

Highly recommended viewing.

Eight out of 10.