Somers Town (2008)

Plot

Summaries

• A black-and-white study of a social environment in London, concentrating on a pair of unlikely new friends and the girl they both fancy.

• Two teenagers, both newcomers to London, forge an unlikely friendship over the course of a hot summer. Tomo is a runaway from Nottingham; Marek lives in the district of Somers Town, between King's Cross and Euston stations, where his dad is working on a new rail link. The boys are both infatuated with the same girl, and pass their days bickering over which of them loves her the most. Finding himself homeless, Tomo surreptitiously moves into Marek's bedroom - but it's only a matter of time before Marek's dad discovers what's going on...

  —Neil Young, Sunderland

• In the suburban London district Somers Town, two Polish-blooded knaves meet and strike an outsiders friendship, although of opposite character. Big, strong, well-behaved, somewhat shy and slow Marek is the pride and joy of his virtually separated dad, an angular construction worker. Abandoned Tomo is a bratty shrimp and incurable imp. Marek plays physically protective big brother, Tomo offers his dubious daring 'help' in matters of pranks and courting. Homeless Tomo even gets to eat and sleep in generous mate Marek's room, but without paternal permission...

  —KGF Vissers

• Teenagers Tomo and Marek are both relatively recent arrivals to the Somers Town neighborhood of London. Tomo has just run away from his Nottingham home, with all his money and possessions in two bags which he needs to carry around with him as he has no permanent place to stay. The only person he knows in London is Jane, a woman he met on the train. Jane can see that Tomo needs help but knows she can't be his constant banker, and that anything she does of an official nature will only lead to Tomo running away again. Tomo wants to appear tough if only as a matter of survival on the street. Marek and his construction worker father Mariusz are Polish immigrants, who are just learning the ways of life in England, including the language. In his spare time, Marek likes to take photographs. Graham, who lives in the same building, sees Marek as a source of cheap labor for whatever odd jobs he has in making a quick and easy bigger buck. Despite their antagonistic chance encounter first meeting, Tomo and Marek becomes friends in their need for social acceptance in their new environment. A common bond that emerges between them is their infatuation with Maria, the slightly older but still young Parisienne who waits tables at a café in the neighborhood. As neither Tomo or Marek has the wherewithal or the emotional maturity to deal with Tomo's situation in the long run, their friendship of just the two of them as best mates can only last for so long before something needs to change.

  —Huggo

• Against the backdrop of a long, hot British summer, and the hustle and bustle of industrialised London, Tomo, a lippy but vulnerable lad from Nottingham, runs away from a broken home and sets foot in the big city. Left with nothing but his meagre belongings, and not having the faintest idea what to do or where to stay, Tomo strikes up a conversation with lonely and quiet Marek, the son of a Polish builder working on the Eurostar terminal, and just like that, an unexpected friendship begins. More and more, as the boys vie for the attention of beautiful Maria, a French waitress with a heart of gold, confusing infatuation with love, their bond deepens, resembling the affectionate connection portrayed in Jules et Jim (1962). But, can Tomo and Marek deal with heartbreak in Somers Town, London?

  —Nick Riganas

Synopsis

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