A Legendary Director...

Today is the 78th birthday of a television and film director who has had a huge influence on British audiences with his uncompromising - though realistic and believable - style, but who remains a virtual unknown in the United States.

Ken Loach was born in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, on the 17th June, 1936.  After spending two years in the RAF, he performed stage comedy before moving in television directing in the early 1960's.  Loach made a number of contributions to the BBC's Wednesday Play series, and this is where he really made his name.

Post-war Britain was a dour and depressing place, particularly for the working-class, as the country struggled to recover from the social and economic impact of six years of conflict.  This was still very evident in the sixties, and Ken Loach used the everyday issues of British life to great effect.

One of his early docudramas was Up the Junction, in 1965.  Adapted from a series of short stories by Neil Dunn, Up the Junction portrayed life in the industrial slums of southwest London, in particular, Clapham Junction.  It brought to British TV issues not usually seen, such as poverty and, more shockingly, backstreet abortion.

A year later, Loach directed Jeremy Sandford's Cathy Come Home.  The story of a working-class couple, the play focused on unemployment, homelessness, and the loss of children to social services.  Cathy Come Home had an incredible effect on the nation, being watched by 12 million viewers - a quarter of the British population in 1966.  It even led to discussions in Parliament, and the founding of the charity Crisis, for the homeless.

In recent polls, Cathy Come Home has been voted the best-ever British television drama, and the second-best British television programme of all time.

The third of Ken Loach's works I will discuss is the 1969 film, Kes.  One of the Top Ten British films ever, it is based on the book A Kestrel for a Knave by Barry Hines.  Billy Casper is a 15-year old who lives with his mother (his father left the family when Billy was young), and his older half-brother, Jud.  Billy is abused both verbally and physically by Jud, and lives a miserable life in a poor mining area of Yorkshire.

Things change for Billy when he brings home a baby kestrel (a small hawk).  Billy raises and trains the kestrel, and there are some incredibly moving scenes of the two.  I will not spoil the end for those who haven't seen Kes (if you haven't, you really should)...

Loach has directed many other plays and films, so please don't hesitate to check him out.  His works may seem depressing, but if you want substance from your shows, I can think of no-one better than Ken Loach.