Classic Movie

They broke his heart. But they couldn't break his spirit.

Kes (1970)

The plot: It is included in most Classic British film lists, and features about it have appeared in magazines ever since, but I don't care. It's forty years since Ken Loach's Kes was released and that's good enough reason for me to look back at it in wonder.
The whole story fills me with a weird sense of excitement and loss. Ken Loach and his partner Tony Garnett, frustrated by the BBC and Hollywood, created their own production company to make Kes: it was shot on location in Barnsley in just eight weeks for £157,000. It tells the story of Billy Casper, a lonely soul just about to leave school and facing a bleak future as he is totally unprepared for life in his working class Yorkshire town. Billy is sensitive, a slim lad and the target of bullies. You can almost smell northern England in the late 60s: the cold mornings in bedrooms untouched by central heating; the rattle of the milk float as it does its early morning rounds; the long journey to work each day, down the pits. Billy is in trouble at school and he is in trouble at home. He gets in fights, is mocked by teachers and is all but ignored or set upon by his family. His only respite is the kestrel he has adopted and trained. With the training of the kestrel we see Billy's untapped potential: how he can learn when enthused; how he can take an interest in things, and care for them. How we all, in the right circumstances, are not pointless. You probably know the classic scenes: the football game with the ludicrous but marvellous Brian Glover as the insane PE teacher; the careers officer casually dismissing Billy as 'suited for manual labour'; Billy not wanting to go down the pit, not wanting to be like his older, harder brother Jed. The awful killing of the bird when Billy fails to place his brother's (winning) bet.

Why's it a classic? It is a classic film because it shines a light on the awful reality of opportunity, hope and economic hardship. It shows that if you are not like the others, if you don't belong, then you have to cope. On your own. That's sad. Most of the cast were not professional actors, but people pulled from the local community in Barnsley. It feels real. If it ever comes on I watch it. It never bores me, it always brings a tear to my eye.