Kes (Ken Loach, 1969)

"He's got this hawk Sir, and he goes mad over it..."

Introduction

Whenever I think about social-realist directors from Britain, two names come to mind: Ken Loach and Mike Leigh. Whilst Mike Leigh has roots in theatre and has films characterised as 'Kitchen-Sink Realism', Ken Loach, though an actor briefly, has roots in television drama. His films are deemed as socially-realist as, like Loach's belief, the films are sensitive to socialist issues in communities in the north of England. Kes is set in Barnsley, Yorkshire, and - in the hope that this may spur you on to watch the film - I would recommend the American readers to pop on the subtitles to clearly understand the dialects used by the actors (as I would put on subtitles to watch The Wire).

The Poor Boy

It is interesting to note that 10 years prior saw the release of The 400 Blows from Truffaut - a story about a poor boy in a broken family. Billy Casper (David Bradley) is from a single-parent family. Mum (Lynne Perrie) struggles to cope with the two sons - both of which are reckless and, in the case of Jud (Freddie Fletcher), aggressive and selfish. The first scene we see is Jud and Billy sharing a double-bed, as Jud bullies his younger brother by refusing to reset the alarm and leaving the door open as he leaves the room.

But it is Billy who we follow. Billy completes a daily paper round which takes him around the estate and area. We see him enjoy his own space as he reads the 'Dandy' and walks through farms, interested in the wildlife and birds. He has stolen from others before and so his newsagaent employer always reminds him that he will lose his job if found stealing from him. We see Billy at school and he is mocked by bullies in the school and the teachers also fail to truly support him - and instead remind him about his hopelessness. From this perspective alone we see how challenging life is for 'Casper' (as his friends call him) and, a line from The 400 Blows comes to mind: "Sometimes I'd tell them the truth and they still wouldn't believe me, so I prefer to lie."

On one visit to a farmyard in the morning, he see's a Kestrel and asks about how to train a creature. The farmer explains how much hard work is neccessary, but Billy doesn't mind and before long he is besotted by the animal. He slowly trains the kestrel - naming him 'Kes' - through the assistance of a book he steals from a local bookshop (he inistially tried to borrow a book from the library but was refused as he couldn't join the library without his Mum's signature...).

Abuse of Power

The parrallel between young Billy and 'Kes' is clearly set out. The patience, effort and time Billy needs to give to 'Kes' is in contrast to the lack of patience, minimal effort and short-time given to Billy in school. This lack of support is clearly portrayed in a ten-minute sequence consisting of a P.E. lesson whereby the class play a game of footaball.

The teacher is high on his ego - in addition to "teaching", he also designates himsef as lead striker and referee. This results in a completely unfair game whereby the rules are changed to suit his own ends. A penalty is taken twice after he fails to score on the first attempt. The small and thin Billy, amongst the tall footballers, is not in his comfort zone. We are told how he never brings his kit and so doesn't take part - but the teacher this time scrambles together scraps of ill-fitting clothes forcing Billy to look a state before even playing. He is last picked and forced to stand in goal.

The weather is appalling (true British weather) and, upon losing the match, the teacher forces Billy to have a shower and, when in the shower, he turns the cold tap on. On the one hand this is a sequence whereby you can laugh at how horrible the teacher is - but, within this realist context, you understand the truth of the situation. Billy is abused in this manner every day. His lack of money and attititude has permanently placed him in the "unimportant" sector of society. This teacher preys on his weakness and give the students plenty of opportunity to mock him further. A school to educate only seems to reaffirm social-status. This is not right.

The patience, time and effort Billy gives to a kestrel is better than the treatment he recieves in the society around him. This is tragic and heart-breaking. The child didn't have a chance.

Set within Yorkshire, the community is in an important time whereby coal-miners are still active and the beauty of nature and the countryside is in conflict with the industrial factories. Chris Menges (The Reader, The Mission, The Killing Fields) is cinematographer and he manages to depict a fascinating environment whereby Billy runs through the dirty streets in deep shadow highlighting the deprived area he resides within. Even his clothes are dull and grey, as if the coal and soot from the mines has tainted the children around the town.

 The One Hope

In true realist fashion, the film ends in tragedy. Kes is the one passion and hope for Billy. Kes focuses Billys' attention on other things. The distractions of teenage life are put on the side as he see's the beauty of the creature in flight. Billy mentions that he has been "doing alot better" since he hasn't hung around with the bullies in the school and, through his careful rearing of 'Kes', he begins to trust others and gains respect from the people around him. There are many facsinating monologues as Billy talks about his observations of Kes.

He explains how he doesn't see Kes as a pet - you can't control a creature like Kes. He has to be free and has to be admired and respected.

But it is not anyone from outside of this community who destroys his dreams - indeed, it is his own family and the desperation for money that indirectly kills the one hope Billy has. His brother Jud kills Kes as an act of revenge when Billy fails to place a bet at the bookies. Is Loach hinting at how sometimes the people closest to you can be the people who hold you back? Is he noting how money is the destructive element - and the unspoken desperation for escape from the working class that is destroying communities from the inside? Considering the film was made in 1969, maybe the education system has changed dramatically and pupils like Billy are much rarer to find. But watching it in 2012, you can see how the hope of the uneducated is still shot down as working-class jobs are moved to other countries and carried out by technology. The uneducated and deprived areas still exist and still need jobs. Billy is not a 14 year old in school now - he is the 17 year old without any qualifications. Where do they go?

Midnight Cowboy (John Schlesinger, 1969)

"You know, in my own place, my name ain't Ratso. I mean, it just so happens that in my own place my name is Enrico Salvatore Rizzo"

Introduction

Back in the early days of the DVD, my younger brother and I watched a free-DVD which was crammed with trailers. It had a trailer for Goldeneye and Tomorrow Never Dies ("sound the general alarm..."). It also had more Brosnan with a trailer for The Thomas Crown Affair too ("...and waltz straight out the front door"/"oh, thats good"). It also had a trailer for Midnight Cowboy. Clearly the free DVD was from MGM because that was the studio behind all these films, but as you can see by my quotations (and I didn't need to look them up ... and I could rattle off a few more...) I knew these trailers back to front - but alas, in the case of Midnight Cowboy, only a decade later have I managed to watch the film. And now I have watched it, it is possibly one of my favourite films...

The American Dream

The story revolves around young Joe Buck (Jon Voight). He decides to get out of his small-town community in Texas and make it big (in a male-prostitute kind-of way) in New York. Thats the basic set-up and, akin to Easy Rider of the same year, it shows how the idea of starting a-fresh and gaining a new perspective on the US is actually much more difficult, and much more corrupt, than it may appear. The entire opening shows Joe travelling by bus - he thinks back to his girlfriend and family at home and see a little hint at a horrendous rape comitted against Joe's girlfriend, (and we find out later against Joe himself too). This gritty realism is what puts this film head and shoulders above the rest as Joe's time in the Big Apple is not what he thought it would be, becoming more tragic as the film progresses. We see how 'prosperity and success' is not as easy to find as it might appear. You cannot just up-sticks and move out to the big city and expect everyone to simply pay you for sex - people want money from you and Joe finds this out the hard way. We see drugs, prostitution (heterosexual and homosexual), extreme poverty, disability and homelessness. We also see how society is reluctant to help this side of the urban city - instead we see see huge billboards claiming "everybody can eat at [insert diner name here]". The capitalist and consumer nature of the American dream has eaten up the morality and soul of the people.

Oscar Worthy Performances

The year Midnight Cowboy won Best Picture (the first X-rated film to win the award), both Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman were additionally nominated for Best Actor - losing out to John Wayne and his role in True Grit. Dustin Hoffman plays the disabled 'Ratso' - a name which he despises, clearly aware of the connotations and disgusting nature of the rat. Hoffman constantly berates Joe Buck demanding that he call him Rizzo or, at least in his own home, to be called Enrico. Ratso is disabled and a conman - the pickpocket and thief who takes advantage of Joe Buck when they first meet.

Jon Voights performance as Joe Buck is equally fascinating - naive and innocent, despite such tragedy in his home town, he aims to forget and move on. He is confident about his love-making 'skills' and, when down and out and desperate for money, even turns to male-prostitution himself. The clients, are of the time, and clearly have difficulty accepting who they are whilst Joe is simply trying to define himself - is he the cowboy? the New York gigolo? Schlesinger shows brilliant fluidity in showing the reality of the situation and juxtaposing this with cut-aways to what the characters want: a one-second shot of Joe Buck walking into a womans house disorientates you until it cuts back to Joe Buck watching the woman enter the house alone.

In one stand-out sequence, Ratso waits for Joe to build up the client-base for their male-escort business. Ratso see's himself on the beach with women surrounding him, Ratso serves up gourmet food and gambles with style and edge ... before we see the business fold in minutes as Joe Bucks forward-move in groping a womans ass backfires. We see how delusional the characters are - and how the American dream, in this way, does not exist.

Starting A-Fresh

The constant theme that repeats itself throughout the film is the idea of starting again. Joe Buck, following the trauma in Texas, hopes to start again. Ratso, continually aims to start again by being called Enrico - and desperately hoping to get to Florida and start again. In the huge space and land of the free, you can start again. The question is whether it is too late. On the surface, the story appears to be about Joe Buck - but as the film closes you realise it is Ratso who we need to think about. He is who has been let down - constantly involved in the recurring nature of poverty - a father who shined shoes so much he damaged his back, a resentment towards those with money and opportunity - as he has never had usch freedom and choice. Even Joe Buck has more opportunity than he. Ratso feels he is the lowest of the low - and no one will change that, as even Joe puts him in his place multiple times by continuing to refer to him as Ratso. He is 'beneath' everyone and that will not change. It is only in the final act that Joe Buck puts his selfish, business-mind to the side and thinks about Ratso. He does 'what he needs to do' to ensure that Ratso has his opportunity to realise his dream.

I think it is "hope" that we are discussing. Ratso never gives up hope about his Florida dream - but it seems that society has given up on Ratso. The quote from the film "I'm walkin' here! I'm walkin' here!" seems, on the one hand tongue-in-cheek as it is a character who physically has difficulty walking, but then has the subtext that, as he is part of the underbelly of NYC, he is not seen or considered. He is ignored and not helped. The health service requires money - which he does not have.

I could go on - the incredible music by John Barry with the unforgettable 'Everbody'sTalkin' by Harry Nilsson. The fact that Dustin Hoffman - fresh from starring in The Graduate - hails from LA but is playing a native New Yorker so perfectly. In fact, the newcomer Jon Voight, a native New Yorker is playing a Texan! So many facets of this film make it even stronger and I am well aware that, over the next few years, the more I watch the film, the better it will get.