MADE IN BRITAIN (TV)
Summary
This English drama presents a grim portrait of an alienated sixteen year-old skinhead named Trevor, whose explosive anger, hatred, and violence lead him ever deeper into the British juvenile detention system. As the film begins, Trevor -- a youth with a swastika tattooed on his forehead and a hostile disposition -- has a court hearing for throwing a brick through the window of the home of a Pakistani immigrant. He is dropped off at a "residential assessment center" by his social worker, Harry Parker, where he is to be examined by a team of psychiatrists and social workers -- including the deputy superintendent Peter Clive -- who will decide what to do with him. Shortly after his arrival, Trevor is required to visit the local job placement center; joined by his rather passive black roommate Errol, he proceeds to steal a car and use the money he was given to get to the job center for glue-sniffing. At the job center, Trevor becomes hostile because of the skill requirements of the jobs posted, intimidating the clerk and throwing a large brick through the window. Trevor then takes Errol along to retrieve his prized possessions, including a ring of stolen keys, from a deserted building. Returning late to the residential center, Trevor becomes infuriated when he is told he has missed lunch and will not be fed. After physically assaulting the chef, Trevor is placed in an isolation room where the superintendent charts on a blackboard the chain of events -- from truancy in school to criminal larceny -- that have brought Trevor to this point and predicts his probable future: an endless cycle of unemployment, theft, and incarceration. He says that cooperation with the system is Trevor's only hope for the future. When the superintendent leaves, Trevor explodes in a litany of hate directed towards the staff, as well as blacks, Pakistanis, and the teachers at his school. Barry and Clive debate whether Trevor -- though bright -- is psychotic. Clive tries again to reach the alienated youth by allowing him to participate in a special auto race. During the race Trevor appears to be genuinely happy until his car stalls out and his frustration explodes into seething anger. Later, Trevor awakens his roommate and using keys he stole from Clive, leads Errol to a locked file room and, reading the illiterate boy's dismal file aloud, persuades Errol to defecate on it as he urinates on the drawer holding his own file. Next Trevor steals a van, smashes the windows of the homes of several Pakistani families, and crashes the van into two parked police cars in front of the nearby station house. Fleeing the scene, Trevor leaves the unconscious Errol to be arrested for the crime spree. He then goes to Harry's apartment, telling the social worker what he has just done and offering to turn himself in. Trevor is next seen in a prison isolation cell where he baits the guards with his rights as a juvenile. The police officer tells him that he is being sent to a detention center where he will have his fingerprints taken, and thereafter be charged as an adult. Angered by Trevor's perpetual grin the cop hits him with his bobby stick and says he must learn discipline. Trevor is momentarily stunned, and then his defiant grin returns.
Details
- NETWORK: Central Independent Television (United Kingdom)
- DATE: July 10, 1983
- RUNNING TIME: 1:12:54
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:06823
- GENRE: Drama
- SUBJECT HEADING: Aggressiveness (Psychology); Drama; International Collection - United Kingdom; Juvenile delinquency; Social case work with youth; Teenage boys - Great Britain; Violence; Youth
- SERIES RUN: Central Independent Television - TV, 1983
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Margaret Matheson … Producer
- Patrick Cassavetti … Associate Producer
- Alan Clarke … Director
- David Leland … Writer
- The Exploited … Music by
- Tim Roth … Cast, Trevor
- Terry Richards … Cast, Errol
- Bill Stewart … Cast, Peter Clive
- Eric Richard … Cast, Harry Parker
- Geoffrey Hutchings … Cast, the Superintendent
- Sean Chapman … Cast, Barry Giller
- John Bleasdale … Cast, the Policeman
- Nick Diacomo … Cast, the Solicitor
- Maurice Quick … Cast, the Magistrate
- Sharon Courtney … Cast, the House Parent
- Stephen Sweeney … Cast, the Job Centre Youth
- Kim Benson … Cast, a Job Centre Girl
- Catherine Clarke … Cast, a Job Centre Girl
- Jean Marlow … Cast, the Job Centre Woman
- Jim Dunk … Cast, the Chef
- Vass Anderson … Cast, the Canteen Manager
- David Baldwin … Cast, Leroy
- Allister Bain … Cast, Hopkins
- Richard Bremmer … Cast, the Policeman
- Brian Hayes … Cast, a Man on the Stairs
- Jiri Stanislav … Cast, a Man on the Stairs
- Frankie Cosgrave … Cast, Viv Parker
- Christopher Fulford … Cast, P.c. Anson
- Eric Kent … Cast
- Joan Ware … Cast
- Madelenine Athansi … Cast
- Virginia Fiol … Cast
- Hyacinth Malcolm … Cast
- Cathy Murphy … Cast
- Gary Patrick … Cast
- Ava Hrela … Cast