Technically, Red Ken is an adjective reserved for London’s ex mayor and socialist extraordinaire Ken Livingstone, but nothing stops one from applying it to this most leftist of British film-makers, Ken Loach, who for some mysterious reason – probably his exotic status as a communist, working-class championing Englishman – as virtually assured of a Cannes …
After the foolish fondness of The Angel’s Share (2012), Ken Loach is back in familiar ground with the story of Jimmy Gralton, who built a community hall in Ireland’s County Leitrim in the early 1920s that enraged the local haves. Also involved with reinstating an evicted tenant farmer, he fled to America for ten years …
Every so often, you can almost physically feel the shift a film makes as it attempts to lift the rug from under your feet. Most times, though not all, such shifts being so cognitively visible are a burden, and that’s the case with The Angels’ Share, Ken Loach’s most recent film, the Jury Prize winner at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival.
The Wind That Shakes the Barley Directed by Ken Loach Screenplay by Paul Laverty Ireland, 2006 More commonly associated with hard hitting, often brutal kitchen sink drama and gritty small scale drama, Ken Loach’s film repertoire has earned him a critically acclaimed niche in cinema’s fickle hall of fame. Ever since Kes, his name has …
The Angels’ Share Written by Paul Laverty Directed by Ken Loach Ireland, 2012 The choice of Ken Loach’s The Angels’ Share as this year’s Opening Gala Film was a surprise to me. Usually the festival kicks off with a homegrown film – last year it was Halifax’s own Roller Town, the year before that, Score: …
Fall weather is in the air, university students dominate the Halifax streets and TIFF is nearly over. That can only mean one thing, it’s once again time for Halifax’s own Atlantic Film Festival. The festival is in it’s 32nd year this fall and is once again able to boast a pretty impressive line up. Traditionally, …
The Angels’ Share Written by Paul Laverty Directed by Ken Loach UK/France, 2012 Though often associated with social realism, a few of Ken Loach’s films have possessed a comedic streak, and his latest film has more in common with the likes of Looking for Eric than it does Kes or The Wind That Shakes the …
The Talking City and Wolf’s Clothing A little over two years ago, I was fortunate enough to attend a convention in Glasgow entitled Scottish Students on Screen, an event based around giving young film scholars a better familiarity with the workings of the British Film Industry and general movie making as well as a presentation …