Kes (1969)

Director: Ken Loach

It’s fierce, an’ it’s wild, an’ it’s not bothered about anybody, not even about me right. And that’s why it’s great.

Ken Loach was born in the city of Nuneaton, England. He has earned a special place among the most interesting and thought-provoking directors of the British film scene. When the audience faces a Loach movie, they will find a realistic cinema with socialist themes. His filmography focuses on characters from humble neighborhoods of the UK, which are constantly hit by crime, drug addiction and unemployment. Among his prolific catalogue, we can find interesting films such as Poor Cow (1967), Riff-Raff (1991), Land and Freedom (1995), The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006), and I, Daniel Blake (2016).

Kes (1969) is based on Barry Hines’ novel A Kestrel for a Knave (1968), and Loach created one of the most treasured and special British films: a humble, discreet gem of epic proportions for the minds and souls of the audience. More than 50 years after its release, the film continues to resonate strongly and touch the most sensitive fibers of all those who have had the pleasure of watching it. Very few films manage to combine realism, literature and political ideologies as effectively as this film does.

At the time Kes was shot, British cinema was rebelling against unrealistic Hollywood melodramas and blockbusters. Through the cinematographic movement known as Free Cinema, Loach and other directors like Lindsay Anderson, Karel Reisz and Tony Richardson dared to portray the social realism of the British working class like no one else had ever done before. Loach considered that it was necessary to use native interpreters, who came from these same social conditions in order to reflect the disadvantageous conditions of the British working class. That’s why he casted unexperienced and unknown actors which spoke local dialects and knew the dilemmas and socio-economic limitations of that particular time.

Kes focuses on Billy Casper (David Bradley), a boy who must face extremely bleak living conditions. He lives in a poor house located in Barnsley, a mining town in South Yorkshire. His half brother, Jud (Freddie Fletcher) is an alcoholic and violent man, who constantly abuses him physically and mentally. His mother, Mrs. Casper (Lynne Perrie) has many chaning partners and lacks maternal instincts. Billy’s father has abandoned them. Billy isn’t good at school and he hasn’t any friends, he is resigned to work in the terrible conditions that the mining industry offers him. These conditions make Billy a rebellious, disobedient and frustrated child. He steals and forms part of a gang. Although he is trying to get away from those bad companies, he is constantly being dragged towards them. One day, Billy discovers a nest of Kestrels (a species of falcon), he decides to take one and tries to train it – Billy calls the bird “Kes”.

What begins as a simple curiosity to appreciate and take care of the animal, soon becomes the only light and motivation of the child. After stealing a bird training book, the boy spends his afternoons after school with Kes, teaching him how to fly. The scenes that capture Billy training the bird, allow us to see the rural landscapes of Yorkshire, which serve to portray the freedom that the child longs for, and the inner feeling of being isolated from people. The responsibility of taking care of Kes produces a change in the boy. Soon, the animal begins to raise the child’s self-esteem, awakening an insatiable passion and an enormous desire for living.

Billy’s special relationship with Kes is not the same conventional romanticization that you’ll find in a Disney movie, in which the animal “saves his life” and makes him regain his freedom. No, this is not a magical fable: here, we see the bleakness of the family and the hostile teachers of the child, who don’t consider that Billy’s passion is an element that must be cultivated and supported. No one around him imagines that is possible to escape the aura of mediocrity and poverty that is “already written” for the boy. Among many phenomenal moments in the film, a brilliant moving scene stands out and shouts out loudly the distressing situation that Billy experiences every day: He has a fight with a schoolmate who has insulted his family, and a young teacher, Mr. Farthing (Colin Welland), separates them. Then, they are both alone in the schoolyard. Farthing asks Billy why he gets into so much trouble and why he is so undisciplined. Billy relieves himself and unpacks his afflictions in front of the only teacher who seems to pay attention to him, taking interest for his life. Billy releases a monologue that is worthy of applauses.

On the other hand, the film has very fun and revitalizing moments- there is a fantasy soccer cup match between the Spurs and Manchester United, in which the children participate. This match is orchestrated by Mr. Sugden (Brian Glover). The scene features nostalgic moments that any child who has been on a public school will be familiar with; crappy and dingy pitches, dirty changing rooms, and kids dreaming of being football superstars.

The film was also shot during a period of industrial unrest when the coal mining industry was being degraded in the face of increasing competition from the oil and gas industry. Loach used a total of 16 different locations to shoot the film. Many of these places no longer exist, since the urban landscape has been completely transformed after the collapse of the coal mining industry. But local people can still identify the specific locations, although many of the original buildings and streets have been renovated and are difficult to identify.

While some people have a privileged social position and more facilities to access certain jobs in higher orbits, the world of Billy Casper is a very difficult, cold, dark and depressing place – getting out is a real challenge. Kes is a monumental sequence of beautiful, blissful and mind-blowing artistic peaks that will leave our feelings and emotions exposed: love, passion, misery, courage, laughs, and ultimately: hope.

by Octavio Carbajal González