Reply With QuoteI don't know - but it is a very well-acted scene if he didn't!
I've just watched Kes again. It contains two of my all time favorire clips. The first is obviously the 'Bobby Charlton' clip. The second is the clip of the kids in the headmasters room and the innocent kid getting the cane for smoking.
I'm intrigued how the director got the shot of the innocent kid with real tears welling up in his eyes.
Did he really get his hands caned?
I don't know - but it is a very well-acted scene if he didn't!
It's strange that each boy in that scene in Kes only gets one stroke of the cane. When I was at Secondary Modern School from 1958 to 1962, those boys getting the cane were first asked whether they were right handed or left handed. If they said they were right handed, the headmaster would tell them to hold out their left hand and then they got six hard strokes of the cane across the open palm. Hence the expression, "six of the best." I was lucky. I never had the cane. But I remember seeing young teenage tearaways who thought they were tough coming out of the headmaster's office, clutching their reddened and swiftly swelling hand and whimpering with pain.
At my grammar school we got it on the a***.(DAVID RAYNER
It's strange that each boy in that scene in Kes only gets one stroke of the cane. When I was at Secondary Modern School from 1958 to 1962, those boys getting the cane were first asked whether they were right handed or left handed. If they said they were right handed, the headmaster would tell them to hold out their left hand and then they got six hard strokes of the cane across the open palm. Hence the expression, "six of the best." I was lucky. I never had the cane. But I remember seeing young teenage tearaways who thought they were tough coming out of the headmaster's office, clutching their reddened and swiftly swelling hand and whimpering with pain.
I got two strokes when I got caught smoking by none other the headmaster, and two strokes when I didn't do any homework for weeks.
You were bent over a chair, and the pain intensified ten fold when you straightened up.
Each of the masters had their own little weapon of pain. One had a size 20 rubber soled very flexible gym shoe.
But as I was frequently told to report to the masters common room at break to get whacked, I discovered that if I just never turned up, 90% of the time they forgot about me.
A Longitude/Latitude decleration might be able to give us a pinpoint using say Google earth as the whole of the area is mapped, but Im not to sure how up to date it is.(radman @ Mar 10 2006, 12:24 PM
Tried to find building at old hall farm no sign of it i wonder if its been knocked down. can you give approximate location looked all over area no sign [/b]
Films you see and enjoy as a child always have a tendency to have a greater impact than supposedly 'superior' films you see in your adult years but, for me anyway, Kes would never have failed to affect me whatever age I had first watched it. Even as a young boy who had not watched a great deal films I was immediately struck by how different Kes was to anything I had seen at the time and this still rings true to this day.
The debut performances of pretty much the entire cast give proceedings an ultra-realistic edge akin to a documentary, as does Ken Loach's trademark 'no frills' approach to direction and the lack of an intrusive soundtrack. A hard-hitting tone throughout the film climaxes with a superbly downbeat ending (Hollywood this most certainly isn't) although it is interspersed with moments of genuinely brilliant comedy with the Brian Glover-inspired football scene being one of the funniest to have ever been committed to celluloid.
Who could have ever imagined that a simple tale of a boy and a kestrel could have made such a lasting impression? Not perfect but as close to it as I've ever seen. Pure brilliance.
I don't know this film. Thanks for bringing it up.
Kes (1969)
Have you seen it recently, or repeatedly? Have different scenes or personalities changed their affecting ways on you? Or have you been able to see if often enough so that your memories of it are precise from one viewing to another?
If you've seen this filmmaker's other works, how do you compare KES to those others?
No problem. I hope that you get to see it and enjoy it as much as I do.Originally Posted by ChristineCB
In answer to your questions, Kes is one of the few films that I actually own on DVD, as I tend to rent or borrow from friends. I have therefore seen it numerous times including quite recently. As I have grown up with the film I suppose I have viewed certain aspects of the film differently as I have matured over the years and understood why characters behaved in the way they did (even the more unsympathetic characters, of which there's quite a few on show). The film is also quite personal to me as my own father worked in the mines as a young man (which the main character is dead set on not doing) before he 'escaped' to join the British Army.
Given that I am such a huge fan of Kes I am quite ashamed to say I have only see one other Ken Loach film, Riff-Raff(1990), which is obviously a much more modern film but displays the same uninstrusive direction and realistic tone. It's been some years since I've seen the film but I do remember enjoying it and there was a particularly strong performance from Robert Carlyle before he hit the big time with Trainspotting etc.
I hope these go some way to answering your queries.
I've watched Kes quite often over the years and read the book a few times and it never ceases to amaze me. The performance from young Dai Bradley is just amazing. He should have won every award going.
The whole situation is a bit alien to me, not having grown up in a mining village or in a particularly deprived area. But I can understand why Billy wants to escape going down the mine.
His elder brother Jud is a great portrayal of a bully and an "old style" young man who grows up without thinking about what he wants to do. He just follows the tradition.
The teachers are particularly interesting with the bullying sports teacher but also the sympathetic English teacher. The scene with the smokers outside the headmaster's office does resonate with my own schooldays.
All the way through it I keep hoping that Billy will manage to escape his fate - but he never does, he just manages a few moments of freedom with Kes.
I've seen quite a few of Ken Loach's other films. He does like the naturalistic style although some of his films are a bit preachy for some. He really came to fame with Up the Junction, Cathy Come Home and Poor Cow. I also like the other films he made (for TV) from Barry Hines' other stories like The Price of Coal. I still haven't seen his Irish story, The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006). The most recent of his films that I've seen is the Scottish one, Ae Fond Kiss... (2004)
Steve
*SPOILER ALERT*
Well made comments Steve. I couldn't agree more. I would say, however, that over the years I have grown to be a bit more sympathetic towards Jud. Sure he's a bully and a bit of a brute but it's always interesting to try and understand why he's like that. What I've noticed on the last couple of occasions when I've watched Kes is that whilst Jud says he can't imagine being any happier during the scene at the pub, later on when he finds out that he's not won the horse money he keeps saying 'I could have had a week off work with the winnings' so obviously he's not too enamoured with life down the pit either. Perhaps that's what has turned him into such a monster?
Yes, I wasn't blaming Jud for his life choices by any means. He just went along with what was suggested to him or expected of him. He probably didn't think about it at all. But that applies to many young people, and not just back then either.
Steve
Thanks for the fine and pointed comments. I enjoy the specifics and spoilers never bother me - if a story's good, it's worth revisiting even if I know the last passage. Now I've got to find something other than stilettos to trick someone into a trade! ha ha...and JUST when I ithought I was finished collectinig! Drat...
I would swap my copy with you for a pair of stilettos were it not for the fact that (a) I love the film so much and (b) I've always struggled to find stilettos that fit my wide feet!:
Seriously though, I heartily recommend it. It's a brilliant film, although the strong Yorkshire accents can take some getting used to.
The most depressing film I have ever seen. If ever I was suidle and saw that fim it would certainly push me over
Yet many of us would consider it a truly great film - certainly be in my Top 20 British films.The most depressing film I have ever seen. If ever I was suidle and saw that fim it would certainly push me over
PS Well said, ML!
The PE lesson scene is laugh out loud funny!! I must've seen that clip about 20 times and its still hilarious....admittedly, Kes is not a laugh-riot all the way through but I defy anyone not to laugh at that PE scene or the bit where they are getting lectured in the headmasters office and cracking up behind his back
It is depressing - extremely so - but perhaps it was one of the things that helped Britain to move on, at least to some extent, from those dark days. It is worth reading Barry Hines' novel 'A Kestrel for a Knave' to see how closely Loach replicated the spirit of the original, and also the important changes that he made. For example, there is an extremely moving passage in the book where Billy writes an essay about a dream. Apart from anything else, it's a literary masterpiece.
By the way, I met Tony Garnett (producer) a few years ago, and I asked him how they did the caning scene, as it looks so realistic. He told me that they asked for volunteers amongst the kids at the school: anyone who didn't mind getting caned on the hand would be given a fiver. They were swamped with volunteers. "Couldn't do it like that nowadays, of course", he added.
My favourite film of all time. There's plenty of humour amongst the heartache. You're right about the downbeat ending though but like someone else said it helped highlight a number of issues at the time.The most depressing film I have ever seen. If ever I was suidle and saw that fim it would certainly push me over
A really great film, honest acting and very down to earth humour.
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