Ken Loach

Ken Loach - A Biography part 2: 1970s and 1980s . (Ken Loach part 1, part 3, part 4)

Ken Loach's first work of the 1970's would be for the commercial channel LWT. The play After a Lifetime (1971) was about the funeral of an aged militant trade unionist. The play starred Bill Dean who'd had a small part in Kes, and who later in 1971, would play the father in Loach's third feature film Family Life (released on DVD in June 2007). Family Life was a reworking of the play In Two Minds that Loach had directed for television in 1967. Given its subject matter it was perhaps unsurprising that it did not achieve the commercial success that Kes had gained, but it was well regarded critically. 1971 also saw another play in the Play for Today series. The Rank and File written by Jim Allen was a story based around the strike by the Pilkington Glass workers.

1973 saw Ken Loach commissioned by The BBC to take on one of a series adaptations of Anton Checkhov short stories. Loach adapted and directed The Misfortune which upon transmission was very well regarded indeed. It was also significant as being the breakthrough role for Ben Kingsley.

1975 saw Ken Loach directing a whole TV series, again for the BBC. The BAFTA nominated Days of Hope was Jim Allen's tale of of a working-class family in the period from the 1916 to 1926, taking in the First World War, events in Ireland and the General strike of 1926. Running to well over six hours, this really was an epic story particularly in light of the parlous state of the economy and labour relations climate in Britain at the time. Days of Hope was a radical series in every sense, with the social realism long employed by Loach being underscored more than ever before by the skilful political association that Jim Allen had been able to weave into the story of events some fifty years before but that was so resonant in the situation of the climate of the mid 1970's.

Loach return to the Play for Today series in 1977 with the two linked plays named The Price of Coal (written by Kes author Barry Hines) about the lives of those living in a coalfield community. The first part subtitled Meet The People is a comic tale surrounding the story of a the colliery community in preparation for a visit by Prince Charles, and the efforts being put on by the management (in the Queen's Silver Jubilee year), to make the pit fit for a future king) involving grassing over an unsightly coal slag heap, whitewashing everything in site etc. The Second part subtitled Back To Reality is set one month on and is completely different in tone. The colliery suffers a very sudden underground explosion, trapping, killing and injuring the miners, and as the rescue team work frantically to rescue those trapped, those above ground argue about who is to blame.

Ken Loach's next project was another feature film Black Jack (1979), an adaptation of the Leon Garfield children's novel. Set in 1750 Yorkshire the story centres around Tolly a teenaged boy who is thrown into a room to attend to the body of Black Jack, a Frenchman that had been hanged. Black Jack has survived the hanging, he takes Tolly with him on the run so that Tolly can act as his interpreter. On their way Jack holds up a carriage that is transporting a young aristocratic girl to an insane asylum (as it transpires she is not mad just slowly recovering from the effects of fever she suffered as a child). They then join up for a traveling fair. Something of a departure for Loach, making a children's historical costume drama, but visually it looks quite beautifully shot (but not expensively so) and the soundtrack utilising authentic folk music is also absolutely stunning too.

1980 saw another feature film The Gamekeeper (adapted from the novel by Barry Hines). Perhaps the most low key of all of Loach's work the simple story follows a year in the life and work of a gamekeeper. Never straying far from his toil we see the gamekeeper rearing the pheasants, dealing with poachers and at the end of the year organising the shoot for the master and owner of the estate.

Ken Loach's next feature film Looks and Smiles (1981) was shot in stark black and white. The story is set in an industrial city in the North of England and centres around a recent school leaver Mick, who, with industry in decline and unemployment rife, finds getting a job extremely difficult despite his obvious aptitude for working with machinery. Mick watches his best mate leave his home town to join the army. He finds himself a girlfriend Karen, and despite their determination to make a life together for themselves their economic circumstances make everything very difficult. Despite its shoestring budget it was well received at Cannes winning Loach both a jury prize and nomination for the Golden Palm.

Throughout the 1980's right through to the 1990's Ken Loach was commissioned to produce some documentaries for television and the early 1980's would see Loach focus on these - Auditions (1980), A Question of Leadership (1981/3), The Red and Blue (1983), Which Side Are You On (1984) and The View From the Woodpile (1989). Both A Question of Leadership and Which Side Are You On were not broadcast due to the "perceived political imbalance" of the documentaries. Despite Loach's respect within the critical industry he had fallen out of vogue amongst the almost extinct British film making industry and trying to finance his films became impossible, which meant Loach having to hire himself out to make TV adverts in order to subsidise himself.

It wasn't until 1986 that would see another Loach feature film. Fatherland followed the story of Klaus, an East German protest singer, who decides to leave his country after the communist government forbids him to perform. When he arrives in West Germany he finds the politicians and record companies queuing up to make capital from his defection. Escaping the clamour for his signature he goes to England to meet his father who he hasn't seen since he was a small child. Their meeting helps Klaus gain some perspective on both his art and his feelings about his life and beliefs. Fatherland marked something of a change for Loach in that this was a more European film with less "social realism" than there had been in previous movies, and its lukewarm response did little in assisting Loach in gaining funding for the type of movies that he wanted to make. Fatherland did however mark Loach's first involvement Channel Four Films later Film Four (the company which almost single handedly helped sustain the "independent" British film industry during the 1980's) who funded the movie.

continued on Ken Loach biography part 3