Ken Loach, UK
1969 Drama, 1h 49m, PG coarse language
IMDB: 7.9 RT: 100% / 91%
A working-class Yorkshire boy finds purpose and escape from his troubled life when he trains a wild kestrel.
“Kes remains one of Loach’s best-loved films. His hallmark traits of effortless naturalism and unpatronizing attention to working-class lives are on show here, fully formed and deeply affecting. The extraordinary performance of the non-professional Bradley as Billy is the film’s heart: he’s simultaneously as earnest, lively, and distracted as any 14-year-old but also resourceful and completely aware of his hopeless circumstances.”
– Chris Drake, Film Comment
“Kes had a tremendous influence on… my career as a whole. It’s the perfect balance of comedy and pathos that Ken Loach is so adept at. I can’t think of another film that has me laughing hysterically one moment, in tears the next. Loach’s craft has never been stronger, in my opinion. Cinematographer Chris Menges uses long lenses and hidden cameras to sell the realism while retaining lush, beautifully framed images”
– Sean Baker
