England Is Mine (2017)

Review

94min

Genre:       Fact-based, Drama, Music

Director:    Mark Gill

Cast:         Jack Lowden, Jessica Brown Findlay, Simone Kirby…and more

Writers:     Mark Gill and William Thacker

-Synopsis-

Critical of the local music scene and disenchanted with Britain in the late 70s, a young Lancashire lad channels his writing talents and a grating personality into revolutionising popular music, as he embarks on the path to forming one of the most influential bands of the 1980s in this early life portrait of ‘The Smiths’ frontman Morrissey.

If there’s one type of film that there’s no shortage of when it comes to biographical dramas, it’s the music biopic; from rock and pop, to the blues and jazz, hip-hop and soul, to classical and everything in-between, you can bet there’s been a portrait of at least a few troubled and gifted figures from any given genre. Now some of the makers of one of the better musical biopics in recent years—2007’s cinematic portrait of late ‘Joy Division’ frontman Ian Curtis ‘Control’—turn their attention to another Northern English counter-culture icon with this early life character study of Steven Patrick Morrissey.

Up-and-coming British actor Jack Lowden (Denial, Dunkirk) stars as a young Morrissey during his formative post-school days in 1970s Manchester; a socially anxious but simultaneously self assured loner struggling for direction in life, rejecting the prescriptive society around him while trying his hand music journalism—but with aspirations to create music rather than just criticising others’ attempts. When a chance meeting sparks a friendship with like-minded artistic soul Linder Sterling (Jessica Brown Findlay), a life beyond his confines beckons for the perpetual outsider, but he will have to obstacles to overcome . . . and none more daunting than those in his own mind.

For anyone expecting a traditional cradle-to-grave biopic or a more direct account of the makings of ‘The Smiths’ or Morrissey the pop-star, ‘England is Mine’ might be somewhat of a disappointment. Novice writer/director Mark Gill foregoes a narrative that might be familiar to casual fans of his subject, for a deeper look that only hardcore followers of the reluctant star might recognise, painting a subtle portrait of the singular and difficult character of the man, against an oppressive backdrop—but more importantly weaving a more general tale about the struggles of the artistic outsider against the grip of a regimented world.

Young Jack Lowden holds the film together well with subdued charisma in the central role, an accomplished performance that’s far less about mimicry or resembling Morrissey, but about capturing something of the socially dysfunctional, sensitive yet combative and conflicted essence of the young man who would become a counter-culture enigma.

Mark Gill goes some way towards painting an early portrait of Morrissey’s difficult personality, which undoubtedly made him the artist he was; an introverted and sensitive but judgemental young self-styled intellectual, quick-witted and with a perceptive and acerbic sense of humour, formed by a measure of working-class Northern grit but wallowing in self-pity and self-doubt thanks to the pressures of a world he didn’t belong in.

All these the elements which would make him the godfather of British angst and pied piper of outsiders, through his counter-culture persona and his romanticised music tinged with tragedy and realism, yet also a walking contradiction; the private individual and anti-pop star who loves the spotlight and attention, the humanist who bemoans mankind, the shy self-doubting charming man who is also a raging narcissist. But like so many music biopics, this is an ode to the subject by a filmmaker who is a diehard fan, and like so many uber-fans, treats the artist as far greater and more important than he actually is . . . despite his undoubted influence.

Ultimately ‘England is Mine’ just isn’t that insightful or engrossing as a biographical drama, despite veering slightly from the traditional biopic path, and without the musical performances or anything to make it recognisable as a movie about Morrissey, it may as well be about anyone of the same disposition—which is essentially the rather subdued point of the film. Rather than illuminating the psychological intricacies of an artistic enigma, it plays like a more pedestrian account of a self-indulgent and self-created struggle, dressed in stylistic personal reflection and strategic literary references, and set to a soundtrack of 50s and 60s pop & soul to reflect the artist’s childhood influences.

Gill’s feature debut just doesn’t have the cinematic flair or the thematic punch of something like ‘Control’, and despite all its subtlety, restraint and cultural significance, it plays much more like a moderately captivating and reflective little character drama than a portrait of an enigma, or the makings of a pop-culture icon. In the end this is really one for the diehard Morrissey ‘apostles’—although never being short of an opinion or two, they might have something to say about an unauthorised cinematic biography on their man.

The Bottom Line…

Detached from its subject, subtle and restrained to a fault, ‘England is Mine’ is limited as a biographical drama on the early life makings of a complex pop-culture icon, but works as a reasonably captivating broader character drama about artistic outsiders and their struggles in a prescriptive world. Jack Lowden’s solid and nuanced performance manages to project some of the contradictions within the difficult psyche of a hugely influential figure, but this rather blunt character portrait ultimately proves one for the loyal Morrissey fans.

Similar films you may like (Home Video)

Control (2007)

A cinematic portrait of the short but remarkable and ultimately tragic life of gifted Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis, from his early years in Northern England to his struggles balancing sudden fame with his medical condition and some deep personal demons, which would ultimately lead him to take his own life.

Directed by Anton Corbijn and starring Sam Riley, Samantha Morton and Alexandra Maria Lara among others.

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