Poor Cow

Dir: Ken Loach

1967

****

After working with director Ken Loach in adapting her novel of short stories ‘Up the Junction’ in 1965, author Nell Dunn worked again with Loach in adapting her collection of interviews called ‘Talking to Women’ a few years later. The collection of interviews were collected together to form a fictional character called Joy in Dunn’s first novel Poor Cow. It was Ken Loach's first feature film, after a series of successful TV productions – Up the Junction and Cathy Come Home being the most famous. It wasn’t the sort of story you’d expect from someone in Dunn’s position being the daughter of Sir Philip Dunn and the maternal granddaughter of the 5th Earl of Rosslyn – the man who broke the bank at Monte Carlo. She was born in London and educated at a convent, which she left at the age of 14. Nell's father didn't believe that his daughters needed any qualifications, and as a result Nell has never passed an exam in her life. She only learnt to read at nine years old and "whenever my father saw my appalling spelling, he would laugh. But it wasn't an unkind laugh. In his laugh there was the message, 'You are a completely original person, and everything you do has your own mark on it.' He wanted us all to be unique," she says. She came from an upper-class background, a million miles away from the lives she would write about but in 1959 Dunn moved to Battersea and made friends there and worked, for a time, in a sweet factory. This world inspired much of what Dunn would later write and Ken Loach was the only director working at the time who could have adapted her work so authentically. The story is about 18-year-old Joy (played by Carol White). She begins her catalogue of bad choices by running away from home with Tom (John Bindon). They marry and have a son, Johnny. When Tom, a thief who mentally and physically abuses Joy, is jailed for four years after attempting a big robbery, she is left on her own with their son. After briefly sharing a room with her Aunt Emm (Queenie Watts), an aging prostitute, she moves in with Dave (Terence Stamp), one of Tom's former associates. Dave is tender and understanding in his treatment of Johnny and Joy, but the idyll is punctured when Dave gets 12 years for robbery. Intending to be faithful, Joy writes to him constantly, moves back with Aunt Emm, and initiates divorce proceedings against Tom. She takes a job as a barmaid, starts modelling for a seedy photographers' club and drifts into promiscuity. But when Tom is released, Joy agrees to go back to him for Johnny’s sake. One evening, after Tom has beaten her up, she runs out of their flat and returns to discover that Johnny is missing. After a frantic search, she finds him playing on a demolition site. Realising how much Johnny means to her, she accepts the need of compromise and stays with Tom, but she continues to dream of a distant future with Dave. Joy’s life and experiences are a collection of real life stories Dunn collected during her time working in Battersea and talking with the women in and around the sweet factory in which she worked. The actors themselves also gave the film the authenticity the story needed. Terence Stamp once commented that Ken Loach was inspired after meeting Carol White during Cathy Come Home. The story was by Dunn but Loach guided the film the way he believed it should be told. There wasn’t much of a script with Loach choosing instead to let the actors improvise. He would typically only use one take for each scene, telling each actor separately what he wanted them to do, which was usually the opposite to what he’d tell the other actor in the same scene. Having two cameras running at the same time was also key, somewhat confusing the actors but keeping them alert and adding an important level of spontaneity. Carol White was a troubled soul who also came from working-class roots. She was a hard working actor but many failed relationships (with actors such as  Richard Burton, Frank Sinatra, Oliver Reed and Paul Burke) which hindered her career. She got into drugs and became an alcoholic, dying young. Her poor choices are eerily similar to that of Joy’s. John Bindon, who played her husband Tom, was also close to his character. Loach spotted him in a pub and started his acting career but the truth was Bindon had links the the London underground and wasn’t a very nice man. He famously dated Christine Keeler, the former Playboy "Bunny Girl" Serena Williams and Vicki Hodge who would later talk of her 12 year violent and abusive relationship with him. He had sex with Princess Margret too, she denied it but the photos taken proving it have long been the stuff of Royal scandal of years. He also got away with murder – literally. It has become a classic kitchen-sink melodrama and a slice of working-class history. The story works because it is never judgmental – we are all frustrated by Joy’s poor choices but so many people make the same, no one has ever not made a bad decision, it’s just that some are effected by them more than others. Joy is a victim of circumstance and a poor education and isn’t 100% to blame for her mistakes. It’s a classic that still divides audiences today.

Sweet Sixteen

Dir: Ken Loach

2002

****

Ken Loach's Sweet Sixteen follows a young 'Ned' (Scottish term for a hooligan, lout and petty criminal who usually wear baseball caps, tracksuits and general sportswear) called Liam who lives with his grandfather and abusive boyfriend of his mother. When Liam refuses to sneak drugs into prison for his mother, he is beaten and kicked out of his home. He moves in with older sister Chantelle and her young son. Chantelle escaped her mother’s drug taking and abuse years before and is studying so that she can work in a call centre. Life is bleak for young Liam, he's clearly an intelligent and caring lad with a keen interest in astrology who has never been given direction or a chance in life. Out of revenge and opportunity, Liam decides to steal his would-be step-dad's drug stash and soon catches the eye of a local drug dealer. Liam is approached by the local king-pin and his life suddenly gets serious. He soon makes good money and saves up to buy a caravan for his mother for when she gets out of prison. Liam's story is one of innocents and maturity, he is still very much a fifteen going-on sixteen year old but he has been forced to grow up fast. Like most of Ken Loach's films, the film is matter of fact and never preachy. Liam does wrong and knows he is doing wrong but his situation has forced him into a position. Loach reminds us that many kids his age don't turn to crime but also shows us that many do, especially when they've got nothing left to loose. Liam is a clever boy making decisions someone of his age should never have to make. Although similar to his other films in style and content, Sweet Sixteen could also be seen as an updated version of François Truffaut's The 400 Blows, indeed the very last scene is almost a carbon copy and I suspect a direct tribute. Loach's films are very much an English answer to French new-wave, although unlike the Nouvelle Vague, they haven't run out of steam and are still very much a true social representation of the era they are set. By adopting a realistic approach and using non-actors, Loach, once again, focuses on one person to show a much bigger problem. Ex-professional footballer Martin Compston is perfect in the main role and is an example of Loach's brilliant ability to direct people above everything else.

I, Daniel Blake

Dir: Ken Loach
2016

*****

Ken Loach announced his retirement in 2014 following the release of Jimmy's Hall, a film about Jimmy Gralton, leader of the Revolutionary Workers Group of the 1930s. He was 78. However, on the news that the Conservative Party had been re-elected into Government in 2015 and following their controversial 'Fit for Work' scheme that has since led to countless premature deaths and suicides, Loach declared he had another film in him, one that he felt was important to make. I, Daniel Blake is a very simplistic tale of how real people are effected by the 'Fit for Work' scheme, Britain's Employment and Support Allowance and the Support Allowance Work capability Assessment. Loach has used just a few of the many real stories he has collected from people in similar situations as an example of what people have to go through during tough times. For years, the British (mainly right-wing) media have pointed the blame for the country's financial failure at those that claim sickness and job seekers benefits, with I, Daniel Blake, Loach explores the truth of the situation, that many people who have worked all their lives and have paid their taxes, have been left without any of the benefits that they are entitled to. The Court of Human Rights have deemed the new scheme as unlawful, although the government announced they had said otherwise. The government attempted to hide the real number of those that have actually died as a result but even when it leaked, the media barely covered it. It is a stand against the bureaucracy and the cruelty that has been inflicted on the poor and hardworking by the rich and greedy. It really is that simple, it's an opinion often mocked but it is an age-old truth. I fear things have got worse and that people have become numb to other's suffering, as Loach has also said. Many have stated that I, Daniel Blake is the Cathy Come Home for the current generation and there is a lot of weight behind that. Cathy Come Home, a look at homelessness and the system, had quite the impact when it was released in 1966 and although certain aspects are different now, it is eerily similar. How sad and ridiculous is it then that Loach even had to make I, Daniel Blake, a whole half a century later. The film also tackles the issue of social housing. I've heard a lot of criticism from people who actually grew up in social housing, suggesting that beggars can't be choosers etc but, as we see in the film, people are being moved across the country to get homes they are entitled to, when years ago the waiting list was only a couple of days and it would be where you currently lived. The idea that everyone is on the take is absurd and immoral, turning our backs on each other is a product of a very sick society. The 1980s declared that 'Greed is good' but it's not, it's a sickness and it is time we worked on a cure. Comedian Dave Johns is a bit of perfect casting by Loach, his performances is direct, no nonsense and without manipulation. Hayley Squires is also fantastic, the scene whereby she refuses Daniel Blake's pity and kindness because it will weaken her is a very simple but astonishing piece of cinema. The film doesn't use emotional blackmail, it isn't deceitful or manipulative and certainly isn't sensationalist. That has never been Loach's style or approach. It's the sort of film that makes everyone angry, no matter what side of the political debate you sit on. Loach is now eighty years old, my concern is that there isn't a clear successor to his work, it is tragic that I believe there needs to be. I walked past at least seven homeless people on the walk between underground station and office this morning, this is a very real problem and bless Loach and crew for inserting it into the public's consciousness once more. The best and most important film of 2016.

Versus: The Life and Films of Ken Loach

Dir: Louise Osmond

2016

****

Louise Osmond's documentary is a brief but concise look at the life and career of Ken Loach which explores both sides of the political director and also throws up a few surprises that I, a huge fan of his, didn't even know. The documentary doesn't use any sort of trickery, it's not formulaic as it isn't linear but it is uncomplicated and has a good structure based on theme rather than chronological order. The 'versus' in the title is suggestive of the battle Loach has had against the establishment, government, Media, the BBC and distributors etc. but also the battle he has had with himself. Loach is softly spoken, polite and very approachable but he is always direct and doesn't mince his words. He can be brutally honest at times and says what he feels without sugar-coating a single word. To be fair, he is also very critical of his own work, indeed, one of the most humble moments in the film was where he admitted he sold out in order to feed his family by directing TV adverts, one of them being for McDonalds. He still isn't very happy about it. Gabriel Byrne, who stared in Loach's infamous play Perdition, describes the director rather well in comparing knights during lancing battles, saying that "he's the kind of knight who dislodges the other rider with his lance and then stands gently and respectfully on them a he pushes back a small opening in their armour and slits a vein and watches them bleed to death". Maybe a little harsh but he is known for ripping people to shreds with his words. The thing is, all Loach has ever done, in an articulate and lowered voice, is ask people to justify their words and their actions. It is only when their words and actions aren't justifiable do they suffer. So it really isn't any surprise that the establishment have never really liked him, although now in 2016 all those that made him suffer during his career champion him as one of the country’s greatest film makers, such is the fickle manner of our media. Loach however has a long memory and time doesn't always necessarily heal old wounds and there is something quite refreshing about how he talks about such things. When history is continually repeating itself, you really need someone like Loach to point out that this cycle of ignorance is really getting us no-where. In 2014 Loach announced his retirement, in 2015 the Tory government got back into power, somehow, and Loach quickly came out of retirement and set about making another film, realising that actually, he's the only British director working today that can and will stand up to the atrocities effecting life in the UK and who tells it how it is. It's tragic that there doesn't seem to be a successor. For Ken Loach I am thankful, he's a legend, unappreciated by many of the people he makes films for. My only criticism is that I wanted more.

The Angels' Share
Dir: Ken Loach
2012
***
The Angels' Share starts off as gritty drama and ends in feelgood light comedy. I like the story and I like the meaning of what the Angels' Share is (when whiskey is distilled in barrels, a volume of the spirit evaporates and is called the Angels' Share) but for a Ken Loach film I did expect more. It's fairly unbalanced, a little contradictory and a little too whimsical given the films opening brutal scenes. I still enjoyed it, I just felt Ken Loach compromised somehow rather than stood out like his more recent work. The social realism is somewhat upset by this jaunty overtone and somehow the conclusion doesn't really convince me of the redemption the story is trying to portray. It's diet Loach with plenty of sweetener.

11'09"1 September 11
Dir: Samira Makhmalbaf, Claude Lelouch, Youssef Chahine, Danis Tanovic, Idrissa Ouedraogo, Ken Loach, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Amos Gitai, Mira Nair, Sean Penn, Shohei Imamura
2002
****
11'09''01 is a collection of short films by 11 selected directors from around the world. Each one was given complete freedom to react to the events that happened in New York that day and the results were varied. The collection is of a high standard generally, with some standing out over others, as a collection it is of extreme historical value, is importance seems even more relevant today over a decade later. 

Samira Makhmazbaf - Samira Makhmalbaf highlights the innocents of the children who are most likely to be effected by the results of 9/11 as the village concentrate on building bomb shelters made of bricks, a teacher struggles to educate her class. Poignant, especially as we now know the fate of those children. 

Claude Lelouch - Lelouch uses deafness as a metaphor to show the vulnerability of many that day and also of the unheard voices of that day. He also shows the unexpectedness of the events and the regret we have. 

Youssef Chahine - A misguided and confusing short, if I was in charge it wouldn't have made the cut. I couldn't tell you what the underline meaning was but then I bet Chahine wouldn't be able to give a coherent answer either. A weak submission. 

Danis Tanovic - Tanovic's short shows a group of women, who although shocked and disgusted like the rest of the world, decide to continue with there ongoing protest to the death of their loved ones in war torn Bosnia. 

Idrissa Ouedraogo - This is a more light-hearted short, with a group of kids who think they have found Bin-Laden and try to capture him for reward money. This could be seen as an attack on those who capitalised on the events of 9/11 but in this case, the boys want to spend the money on good, to pay for the medical treatment for one of the boy's mother. 

Ken Loach - Loach takes a different approach to the other directors by taking a real person, 
Vladimir Vega, a Chilean whom took part in protests during the fateful murder of Allende in the 70's, who compares the similarities between the two events and empathises with the people involved through writing a letter to them. 

Alejandro González Iñárritu - Alejandro González Iñárritu's short film is mainly just audio recorded in New York on 9/11. Here and there we see flash imagery of the towers burning and the people falling. This adds nothing to the collection, is completely uncreative and is completely pointless not to mention distasteful. The weakest submission by far. Moore did it much better in Fahrenheit 9/11 and in a much more dignified fashion. 

Amos Gitai - Gitai takes us back to 9/11 but to Israel, where on that morning a car bomb exploded killing several people. It was a suicide bomber. The film doesn't take anything away from New York's pain, it just reminds that this is a daily occurrence in some places around the world, also begs the question, where is the rest of the world on this war on terror? 

Mira Nair - This is probably the most touching and important short of the collection. Nair tells the true story of a Muslim family living in America whose son is killed in the attack. At first the young man is branded as one of the terrorists and the family is scrutinised and mistrusted. In the end, it is realised that the man had actually gone there to help but was killed in the process, highlighting peoples ignorance, misconceptions and the fact that the government has done very little to ease race hatred. 

Sean Penn - I seem to be one of the few that like Penn's short. It is a fairly irrelevant story but a touching one all the same. I'm a big Ernest Borgnine fan and he's brilliant in this as a sad old man, not quite getting to grips with the loss of his wife and living in the shadow of the towers. When they fall, he has a moment of joy as his apartment is filled with light for the first time in years but then it only seems to highlight that his wife isn't there. I personally think Penn took his brief and really ran with it, maybe more so than most of the other directors. 

Shohei Imamura - Certainly the strangest of the collection. This was to be his last film, and declaring that 'There is no such thing as a Holy War' through the spoken work of a snake is a hell of a way to go out.

Fatherland (AKA Singing the Blues in Red)
Dir: Ken Loach
1986
*****
Two things make Ken Loach's Fatherland such an engrossing piece; firstly, Gerulf Pannach is the real Klaus Dittemann. Everything that happens in the film pretty much happened to him in his life, although with added torture - something I think Loach did well to avoid. Secondly, this was filmed just four years before the fall of the Berlin wall. Without going into the political history of Germany, what Fatherland does is go forward to explain the feeling of both sides of the country, the emotion rather than the politics which I think tells you far more than any history book could. A fascinating but sadly rarely seen gem.

Route Irish
Dir: Ken Loach
2010
****
Route Irish is regarded as the most dangerous road in the world and that is essentially where the film starts but there are many 'dangerous roads' explored in Ken Loach's gripping and uncompromising thriller. Mark Womack is full on in the lead role of Fergus, a private security contractor working in Iraq who is trying to get to the bottom of his best friends death. So many elements of human nature are explored here; friendship, regret, guilt, revenge, anger - it really has got it all. It also touches on the unpopular issues of contractors making a lot of money in war-torn countries, the people making vast fortunes from taking advantage of the situation and the crimes they are getting away with. It also touches on the very real and very nasty sides of war, this comes as our protagonist breaks down and confesses to the horrors he's seen in conflict but then 20 minutes later, tortures a man with the controversial Water-boarding method. Never one to shy away from controversy, Ken Loach has produced another thought-provoking and powerful film that seems to be criminally overlooked once more. And before you wonder, yes, it does star that John Bishop. He's quite good in it too!

Cathy Come Home
Dir: Ken Loach
1966
*****

Cathy Come Home, Ken Loach's seventh made for British TV feature that appeared on prime-time in the mid 1960's caused quite a stir. Gritty social realism wasn't the norm in those days, although it featured on the BBC’s The Wednesday Play which dealt heavily with social issues, people hadn’t quite seen anything like this and many were shocked and disgusted at the very real living conditions certain people had to suffer. It's the type of social drama that TV was made for and what Loach has since become famous for. Its impact was so great that it was discussed in Parliament which helped lead to the formation of Crisis - Britain's leading homeless charity. It was a subject that was never really discussed, certainly never featured in the media and the impact sent shock-waves across the country. It has since been recognised as one of TV's most important programs and was voted second best TV program of all time (after Fawlty Towers). Ken Loach has since declared that he believed it had little practical effect in reducing homelessness after it was broadcast but the message was out there and people were aware. The fact that it was filmed as a fly on the wall documentary, or docudrama, gave it a very important resonance and it has been mentioned and used countlessly, in books and film made since that deal in social reform. Ken continues the good fight, showing establishments and injustice for what they are, this is where it all started. It's one of Britain's most important films, it never manipulates or uses emotional tricks, it simply shows us the very real truth that most people are only a couple of pay cheques away from homelessness and we need to help each other.

Ladybird, Ladybird
Dir: Ken Loach
1994
****
Ken Loach is the king of social commentary, hero of the little man his first are always balanced and fair. Here he tackles a very difficult subject that many a director wouldn't go anywhere near. Ken Loach may have had the idea but Ladybird, Ladybird would be nothing without the stunning performance from Crissy Rock. Her portrayal of Maggie Conlan, a woman that can't be helped and refuses to help her self is amazing. I've never felt so much frustration, anger and sympathy all for the same character before, to achieve all three in one performance takes great skill. The story is a great document of the way things were at the time and should be remembered as such. Somethings will never change but we should all remember that people and their lives aren't always so black and white.

Black Jack
Dir: Ken Loach
1979
****
One of Ken Loach's first period pieces, Black Jack's real pull is its realism. Nothing is tarted up for the screen, it feels like you have a very real window into the past in front of you, complete with regional dialect and a very natural sounding script. However, this realism never takes away the feeling of adventure and fantasy that the story has. The cast of mainly non-actors is great too, with young Stephen Hirst and Andrew Bennett stealing the show in my opinion. Based on Leon Garfield's novel and an inspiration to Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom, Black Jack is quite the unsung gem.

Jimmy's Hall
Dir: Ken Loach
2014
*****
I saw Jimmy's Hall at my favorite local Cinema (100 year old Phoenix) and was lucky enough to go to a screening that was followed by a Q&A session with legendary director Ken Loach. It was fascinating to hear him talk about the film and the politics at that point in time in rural Ireland. He didn't need to explain the obvious similarities between the social atrocities committed then to those that exist now, those are clear, but to hear the true and simple story of Jimmy Gralton and his community Hall truly inspires to act against it. Ken Loach asked at the end of the film that we remember Jimmy now 80 odd years after his death and a member of the audience added that sometimes art wins out and 80 years after the records of Jimmy's story, life and death were purposely destroyed, he can now finally be remembered and will indeed have the last laugh. To dismiss the film as just a load of socialist propaganda would be to show how ignorant the right really are (still). Even the Pope can't deny the injustices made by the Church, although he already kind of has. This film is about people and people's freedom (real freedom, not the imitation of that the neoconservatives and republicans harp on about). Watch with an open mind and judge for yourself but remember, it's all true. Another brilliant film from one of the best directors of all time.

The Spirit of '45
Dir: Ken Loach
2013
*****
I've heard a lot of people say that this is a one-sided and pathetic cry for socialism but mainly from right-wing nut jobs, Daily Mail readers and people who haven't got a clue what they are talking about. This is a documentary, history documented. Nothing here is made up, sensationalised or reworked, so anyone who criticises the truths that are explored here must be the same sorry souls who think that capitalism is still working (or should I say ever worked). I've also heard criticism from the same people who cry blithe spirit and 'In my day..' convincing me more so that people just don't have a clue what they are talking about. A little bit of socialism would do this country a bit of good but people are too bleeding thick to realise it. It's right-wing stubbornness. Books like The Road to serfdom and the essays of Ludwig von Mises have been proven completely wrong and still they are harped on about by the right and the bankers I might add. I've heard a load of Christians criticise Socialism too which I don't understand, what was Jesus if he wasn't a socialist? Socialism is the opposite of fascism, that should be more than enough for people to see that it is a good idea. Anyway, rant over. Spirit of '45 is a great historical and social piece that should be watched and discussed.

Raining Stones
Dir: Ken Loach
1993
*****
Along with Riff-raff and Naked, to name just a couple, Raining Stones marks a rather special time in film. Early 90's realism like this really got me into film. Seeing the beauty in not just every day things but in the down-trodden and desperate. When people think of little Britain and classic British film, everyone remembers Scum and Made in Britain that came before and Nil by Mouth that came after but they forget these overlooked gems. These are the films that really portray a slice of Britain that was/are real and many people can relate to. Ken Loach is a great director, everything he does is full of passion and good nature, no victim is ever victimised either which when you look back at, is unfortunately not the case in many films of the era. These people are where they are by no fault of their own, aren't drug takers of thugs. Maybe this is why he picked non-actors in the main roles, it's hard to believe that this was Bruce Jones's first role. Both he and Ricky Tomlinson had colourful lives before acting; Bruce Jones discovered the body of murdered prostitute Jean Jordan, a victim of the Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe and Ricky Tomlinson was a militant trade unionist. In 1973 he was imprisoned for 15 months for organising flying pickets as part of a building workers' strike. This only adds to the realism and charm. An overlooked great.