I've seen all of Shane Meadow's work, apart from his doc on The Stone Roses. I've loved all of it. This, not so much.
Not sure what to think of this adaptation of a novel by Benjamin Myers.
The beginning of episode one had hints of Ben Wheatley's A Field in England. Once past the slightly surreal section, we get to what Meadows does best: cast improvisation. What we get is history in Meadows style. This Is England 1765. It's initially jarring, but I got used to it. However some scenes needed a better editor. Dialogue exchanges tended to go on longer than needed with no plot development whatsoever.
On the positive, Meadows provides a non traditional, raw look at Yorkshire in the mid 18th century. It's grim up North.
The music choices are superb, mixing folk with psych rock, and traditional songs sung by the cast. I particularly liked the tracks by Goat. Easily found on bandcamp by the way.
This three part series was clearly meant to be continued. Anyone familiar with the book and/or the history, will know the grisly details of where this story ends up at. The series seemed like an introduction.
Whilst not the best of Shane Meadows work, in my view, doesn't mean to say I wouldn't watch a second series. I feel there's more to offer.
