Ken Loach

[Firebrand]

I ca't believe there isn't already a thread on him.
IMO Land and Freedom was one of the best film's i've ever seen

[coda]

Yeah, for me too. I was lucky to get it on VHS tape. last thing i knew it was not on dvd or widely available.

I've seen a about a dozen of his other films too. The Winds that Shakes the Barley, Bread and Roses, Carla's song and My Name Is Joe are among my favorites.

[TheGodlessUtopian]

What kind of films did this guy make?

[Vanguard1917]

What kind of films did this guy make?

Leftwing ones about kitchen sinks.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Loach

[GiantMonkeyMan]

Land and Freedom is great, there's an excellent section in a mixture of Spanish and English that is essentially a village discussing how best to communise while the fighters who liberated them comment and argue over theory. No Pasaran!

I never really liked Wind that Shakes the Barley. Something about it just sit wrong with me; perhaps the inherent Irish nationalism. Been a while since I watched it though.

[Vanguard1917]

I never really liked Wind that Shakes the Barley. Something about it just sit wrong with me; perhaps the inherent Irish nationalism. Been a while since I watched it though.


You should give it another shot.

Just to be a pedant, there's Irish nationalism in Land and Freedom too. In the first funeral scene, the dead Irish fighter's coffin is draped in the Irish tricolour.

[Comrade J]

Sure we've had Ken Loach threads before! My favourite director anyway, looooove Land and Freedom (the only film that made me cry).

I also love Looking for Eric, which was a very odd but really interesting film. It's about a postman who is feeling down and depressed for various reasons. He's a huge Manchester Utd fan and has a poster of Eric Cantona on his wall, who one day comes out and starts giving him typical Cantona-style advice. Even if you know nothing about Cantona, still an excellent film, loads more stuff happens than what I said, just don't wanna ruin an excellent film.

[Firebrand]

The thing that I love about his films is that the characters act like you would expect ordinary people to act in those situations. They aren't heroes like you see in most films, the film isn't really about the central character and their "journey of self realization". Most films are about making you understand the central character through the events of the film. Ken Loach's films are more about illustrating the impact that a situation has on people and how different people are affected by it, through the characters.
At least, that's what I get from it.

[blake 3:17]

My favourite films of his are the more personal ones, especially My Name is Joe and Ladybird Ladybird. They are some of the most realistic depictions of working class life I've seen in cinema. I should see Land and Freedom again. I remember finding it a bit sentimental, but that was a while ago.

He made a television documentary on the Liverpool Dockworkers strike which was very good. We had a solidarity group here that showed it, and we filled the hall in large part because of his name being on it.

He's also been excellent in expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people and supporting the BDS campaign.

Loach was a member of Gerry Healy's group which I think was the Socialist Labour League at the time. The SLL was very workerist/class reductionist, but had a great number of film and theatre related people in it, most famously Vanessa Redgrave.

Trevor Griffiths, who has written scripts for Loach and Reds, wrote a great play called The Party which is a portrait of Healy and his immediate circle during May 68. They make endless fun of Ernest Mandel celebrating the students who smashed up his car.

[Olentzero]

last thing i knew [Land and Freedom] was not on dvd or widely available.It is, in fact, available on DVD. Enjoy. (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Land-Freedom-DVD-Ian-Hart/dp/B0006GVJY4)