Not much happens in "Somers Town," a picaresque tale of two lonely adolescents-one English, one Polish-and their friendship, and their attraction to a French waitress, and their lives in a poor, industrial section of London. And yet it's a film with affection, and loyalty, and with making the best of a bad situation. It opens here today.
Director Shane Meadows, from a screenplay by Paul Fraser, highlights Tumo and Marek. Tumo, played by the excellent Thomas Turgoose, is a runaway who thinks he's very tough, soon discovers he's not quite as tough as he thinks he is when he is mugged by three other kids who rob and beat him. That's not the first beating he absorbs before he meets Marek (Piotr Jagiello), a Polish immigrant whose father has a construction job. Marek basically lives his days on the streets.
Tumo and Marek meet, spend some time feeling each other out, looking for strengths and weaknesses, decide that maybe they can trust one another. They steal a little, work for a few dishonest people, find a flirty French waitress in the charming Maria, played by Elisa Lasowski, who treats both boys the same, keeps them at arm's distance but makes them feel like the men they want to be.
As said, nothing much happens. The boys go to Paris to see Maria, and they begin to mature and to grow. They're in a difficult place at a difficult time, but they make it work.
At the Tivoli, opening today
-Joe
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