The Following Blu-ray Disc Review Contains Major Spoilers.
England Is Mine is a biographical dramatization of
the early life of Stephen Morrissey, the lead singer of the 1980’s iconic
alternative band, The Smiths and later he went on to enjoy a successful
solo career. I met Morrissey while he was shopping for music at the Virgin Mega
Store Time Square in the 1990s. I was amazed by how down to Earth he was and
engaging as well. I only got to speak to him for a few minutes before fans
began to descend upon him, but I am very glad that I was able to share a few
words with him and he seemed interested in what I had to say. I loved The
Smiths in high school and felt the fusion between Morrissey’s singing and
lyrics and Johnny Marr’s rocking guitar was what made The Smiths stand
out and to this day new generations of teenagers and college kids discover
Morrissey and The Smiths as a voice for the universal angst of
generations.
England Is Mine focuses upon a very specific time in
Morrissey’s life from 1976 to the early 1980s when Morrissey goes to see Johnny
Marr after having met him for the first time a day or so before and having
shared some similar taste in music and style. Morrissey is depicted as being a
somewhat introverted and bookish young man from what I describe as a
blue-collar middle class family in Manchester not too unlike what I imagine a
lot of people who grow up in western society experience. He simply does not fit
in with following what is expected of him, which is to get a job in an office
or a hospital and work and live what I think he consider a humdrum life devoid
of any dreams or aspirations toward working within the arts. He makes friends
with young woman who paints and a guitarist that help bring him out of his
shell. However when both of his friends leave for artistic opportunities in
London, Morrissey must find the strength within to become his own man. Then one
day Johnny Marr knocks on his door. That’s it. That is the whole movie and that
is about as much depth we get, which I think is a big problem with the film. At
approximately 95 minutes, I felt the film ends just when it starts to get
interesting. I never felt much emotional attachment for any of the characters
and compared to other biopics like one produced about the late Joy Division
singer Ian Curtis entitled Control, which was produced by one of the
producers of this film, England Is Mine feels like a TV movie more than
a feature film and it just lacks enough emotional resonance that made me feel
as though I understood Morrissey as a human being better after seeing the movie
than I did before. That is why I opened this review with my brief meeting with
the real Morrissey in Time Square. I got more out of casually talking with the
man than I did watching this whole feature and I just shared a few brief verbal
exchanges. I did not interview the guy and I’m pretty sure the experience was
more memorable for me than it was for him.
I am sorry too because the film is well acted with Dunkirk
star Jack Lowden as Steven Morrissey and the beautiful Jessica Brown Findlay as
Morrissey’s painting friend Linda Sterling. Simone Kirby is quite good as
Morrissey’s supportive Mother, but even here, the film seems to just show
scenes that amount to instances that are repeated throughout the film. Morrissey
had some trouble fitting in. Not everyone was nice to him. He had to work in
jobs he hated. He stayed up late reading and writing while his father was
unsympathetic and told him to get a job. So what? This sounds like the
biography of my life and millions of other people except Morrissey got lucky
and became famous. He is talented so I only mention luck because there are
plenty of untalented people who are famous on the television every day thus
talent is not a guarantee of anything anymore than a college guarantee a
graduating student a job once he has completed his or her studies. Plus he sort
of just starts looking and dressing like the Morrissey we have come to know
because he read a lot of books and stared at a picture of James Dean. What was
he reading? I don’t know. Why did his father suddenly back off when usually the
longer an unemployed son or daughter lives with his parents the greater the
anxiety over his future begins to build up in his or her parents. So with no
emotional resonance, I think even diehard fans in America at least will be
somewhat disappointed by the film’s lack of depth and it’s ending, which as
noted above feels like the point when the story was just starting to get
interesting.
England Is Mine features a retrospective feature
length audio commentary with Director Mark Gill and Star Jack Lowden.
Personally I found the featurette Smoke And Mirrors (21:54) with
Cinematographer Nicholas D. Knowland, B.S.C. to be far more engaging than any
of the other extra features included on this Blu-ray Disc. A behind-the-scenes
short entitled Sad Facts Little Known (8:28) is also included along with
a somewhat bland motion still gallery (3:42). The film is presented with a
beautiful high definition 1080p/24fps AVC encoded picture along with a choice
of English DTS-HD MA or English Linear PCM 2.0 Soundtracks and optional English
Subtitles.
England Is Mine, also known as England Is Mine: On
Becoming Morrissey is available now on Blu-ray Disc at retailers on and
offline courtesy of MVD Visual Entertainment Group and Cleopatra Entertainment.
© Copyright 2017 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
