Made in Britain

1982

Crime / Drama

IMDb Rating 7.2/10 10 7215 7.2K

Plot summary

After being sent to a detention centre, a teenage skinhead clashes with the social workers who want to conform him to the status quo.



June 18, 2023 at 01:55 AM

Director

Alan Clarke

Top cast

Tim Roth as Trevor
Sean Chapman as Barry Giller
Richard Bremmer as Policeman
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU
695.33 MB
960*720
English 2.0
NR
24 fps
1 hr 15 min
P/S ...
1.26 GB
1440*1080
English 2.0
NR
24 fps
1 hr 15 min
P/S ...

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by a.v. boy 10 / 10

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!

Reviewed by Voxel-Ux 10 / 10

Just adding to the praise...

I first saw this episode of a few in the series when it was first released and was immediately taken by the story, as well as the performance of Tim Roth.

At the time I tried to find more things that Roth had done on his performance alone in Made In Britain but couldn't. Only years later, thanks to IMDB (cheers guys) did I realise that it was his first major role.

Back to the film. Set in the London I know I could relate to Trevor (Roth) as I was experiencing a similar thing at the time. A youth pushed into an attitude related to the Thatcher ideals of that time which kicked against the system of authority and its patronising values. The film (although intended as a television programme, but now can be viewed as a film in its own right) had all the zeitgeist required for one living in Britain, especially London, at that time. My friends and I spoke of it with much praise as we could relate to its sentiments. Events like the Brixton riots were indicative of such feelings.

Can this film still be relevant today? Frankly, yes. Britain was changing back in '81-'82 in many ways and appears to be swinging in a similar way once again. Only time will tell.

It is a gritty, documentary-style film that holds little back of an individual on a collision course with the imagined or real oppressor. Self-destructing because he feels it is his only freedom. Engaging and somewhat prophetic. You choose. I have not seen the film for many years now but relish the opportunity to view it again.

Reviewed by CharltonBoy 8 / 10

Roth shows his talent at an early age.

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.

Read more IMDb reviews

No comments yet

Be the first to leave a comment