Firstly, during the opening sequence of This Is England, we as the audience are constantly reminded that the film is a Social drama. We are reminded by the genre, through the use of the shots. Some of the shots included in the opening sequence are ones such as: Margaret Thatcher, Riots, TV characters and others from the time period of the film. These shots have been used to highlight the idea of Social drama and real life issues, as well as real people. During this opening issue the audience may feel quite emotional, due to the nature of the footage being showed. For instance, when linking in with the idea of Margaret Thatcher and the issues surrounding her during that specific time period and also the Falklands, people may have had family in that war and may feel quite a lot of empathy, many people do not agree with war as a whole and also may feel similar emotions. In addition each shot is relative to British culture and society, also representative of British social drama and the ideas raised within this particular film genre. For example when there are scenes of violence, where some skinheads are fighting in the opening sequence.
There are a variety of questions (enigma codes) are raised throughout the film. Perhaps the most significant questions at the beginning are “Why are the skinhead subculture included in the opening sequence?” and “What is their role in the film?”, “Why are shots from the Falkland’s included?” however later on in the film these enigma codes are answered, but it’s still unclear for the audience towards the beginning as to why they are being used, this is the use of intellectual puzzles which we as the audience want to know the significance of these shots are, so this ultimately makes us want to continue watching the film and gain a further insight to the deeper connotations. These questions are answered due to the fact the film is about a group of skinheads in British society