1. Analyse the opening montage of the film and identity how Britain in the early 80's is being represented. Does this support or challenge stereotypical notions of Britain?

2. Commenting on a key scene which involves Shaun, discuss how the experience of youth is represented through Shaun. Does this link to the collective experiences on your sheet?

1) The opening on the film shows Britain as a far less idyllic place than the stereotypes would have you believe. This in some sense is the first hint that the film is a British film; while other countries seem to still see the UK in a romantic light (namely the US, which a large percentage of our media comes from), we see it as a grey, rundown, bleak cesspit of the poor. All Americans see is Hugh Grant on a red bus riding through the village of Chisleton whilst sipping on tea with the Queen and her corgies.

Whilst reinforcing our own rather negative view of our country ( in particular the passionate anger our society felt as a whole in the early 80's), the film challenges the notion of sleepy contentedness a British setting would often harbour in a foreign film.

2.