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The beat goes on (Bafta 2000
magazine)
Sundance Channel: What prompted CATHY COME HOME?
Ken Loach: CATHY COME HOME came about because I met a writer
who was very concerned about the homeless and what was happening
to homeless families. And in particular, what was happening
was that they were getting split up. Husbands were forced
to leave their wives because the homeless accommodation wouldn't
allow them to stay together. And he [the writer] was very
exercised about this and he wrote a story which described
how a family was broken because they didn't have anywhere
to live. And it's an extraordinary story. Very powerful story.
You know, our society -- like your society -- claims to support
the family but all the things that keep a family together
the society chooses to ignore. We have great poverty in both
our countries and that's very destructive of families. Yet
the governments that claim to support families also allow
the poverty to continue. So it's a film about that. It was
a story of a family that's ... that broke up.
Sundance Channel: There was a lot of public debate following
CATHY. What kind of impact did the film ultimately have?
Ken Loach: Shelter [a homeless
advocacy organization] was being formed when we made
CATHY COME HOME, and there was a general interest in
homelessness, but I think the fact that the film was
made helped Shelter get established. Shelter's a charity
which is not only about giving money to homeless people
but more importantly, it's about campaigning and getting
involved in the political issues. And the reason why
I would support it is because it is prepared to campaign
politically. Because I think charity if you were just
handing out money is by and large a very right-wing thing
to do. And I wouldn't do it.
Sundance Channel: Are you
at all concerned that, if someone sees a movie like CATHY
COME HOME, because it's semi-fictional, they'll come
out saying, "Oh, what a moving story." Instead of, "What
can I do?"
Ken Loach: You try to construct
the film so that the onus is left with the audience.
Because knowledge is responsibility, isn't it? I mean
if you know about a problem, a tragedy, or a political
issue ... if you know, for example, that the U.S. sponsors
terrorism -- there's a problem for you. That's a responsibility
for you. And what are you going to do about it? So you
try to construct the film so that the knowledge is left
with the audience and it's not resolved and the audience
then has responsibility. It doesn't necessarily work
but that's what you're trying to.
© 1997 Sundance Channel
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