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www.eusa.ed.ac.uk (Kes)
Ken Loach, UK, 1970, 112 minutes
Kes is Ken Loach's most acclaimed film. Shot in Barnsley
with a largely unknown cast, it's a highly engaging tale
about Billy Casper (David Bradley), a fifteen year-old boy
whose independent nature doesn't gel with the rigid authoritarianism
and conformity that characterise his wasted school life.
It is only through the acquisition and training of a young
kestrel hawk that his existence is given meaning. It allows
him the kind of fulfillment and liberation that his family
or school life could never provide. For once his life has
a focus - he glimpses the fact that it is possible to escape
from his depressing working class environment.
Using real settings with real
people, Kes is a film that speaks directly to the viewer.
It's a warmly humanist work that avoids the temptation
to lapse into sentimentality. The script by Barry Hines'
adapted from his novel, is very honest and Chris Menges'
cinematography is striking. The acting is generally excellent
Bradley is a revelation as the boy and the casting of
Colin Welland as the one sympathetic schoolteacher works
well.
Review by Stephen Townsend
Taken from EUFS Programme 1992-93
Monday, 27-Sep-1999 02:18:54 BST
Copyright © 1995-1999, Edinburgh University Film Society
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