Room for Romeo Brass Analysis

The film 'A Room For Romeo Brass' was released in 1999 and directed by Shane Meadows. It is a social realist drama that won awards for best british film, best director and best british screenplay. It follows the young Romeo and his best friend Gavin, as they undergo a tumultuous period in their childhood. After saving them from a beating by some local youths, the enigmatic Morell befriends the two boys and takes a liking to Romeo's older sister, Ladine Brass. However when Gavin plays a practical joke on Morell to make him look foolish in front of Ladine things turn sour for the pair. In retaliation Morell attempts to drive a wedge between the two best friends in order to keep them apart and thus ensure that he stays close to Romeo and Ladine. But when Ladine rejects Morell's advances he becomes increasingly violent towards Romeo and Gavin, leaving it up to Romeo's absentee father, Joe, to save the day.

The sequence opens with Romeo and Gavin walking through the countryside but the pair have to rest because of Gavin's bad back. They then continue to walk until they come to the local chip shop where romeo has been sent to get dinner for the family.
The camera shots are fairly slow giving each character a lot of screentime. The camera shots start with an establishing shot showing the boys in a field. Then the camera zooms in to a mid shot to show the two boys talking. The opening sequence is accompanied by a soundtrack,"A Message to You Rudy" by The Specials. This gives to opening scene a light hearted atmospere. I think this is to show contrast from the start of the film to what happens later on. The music continues to point where romeo gets home and gets told off for eating everyones food. This intensifies the mood of the scene. This is example of social realism as this is a real life situation.