DIRECTOR: Ken Loach
PRODUCER: Tony Garnett
PRODUCTION CO: Woodfall Film Productions, Kestrel Films
SCREENPLAY: Barry Hines, Ken Loach, Tony Garnett, based on Hines' novel, A Kestrel for a Knave
PHOTOGRAPHY: Chris Menges
EDITOR: Roy Watts
MUSIC: ​John Cameron
WITH: David Bradley (Billy Casper), Freddie Fletcher (Jud), Lynne Perrie (Mrs Casper), Colin Welland (Mr Farthing), Brian Glover (Mr Sugden), Bob Bowes (Mr Gryce)

​FESTIVALS: ​London, New York

REVIEW

“Loach made his name directing television plays, but it was his second cinema feature Kes that demonstrated the extent of his cinematic imagination. Adapted from Barry Hines’s novel A Kestrel for a Knave, it tells of 15-year-old Billy Casper (David Bradley), who seems destined for a life in the coal mines of his home town, Barnsley. But Billy’s discovery of a kestrel, and his dedication in training it, give him optimism — however temporary. Chris Menges’s cinematography is as lyrical as John Cameron’s score, which seems to reflect Billy’s hidden potential while simultaneously sounding cautionary notes. Loach’s relaxed direction of a cast that includes ex-wrestler Brian Glover and future Chariots of Fire writer Colin Welland is as impressive as the unsentimental tenderness with which he depicts Billy’s life.”

– BFI

“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 nonprofessional 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 Darke, 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

FILM SOCIETY SCREENINGS

Whanganui    
Monday, 12 May, 7.00pm

Timaru     
Tuesday, 27 May, 6.30pm

Hamilton     
Monday, 09 June, 6.30pm

Auckland      
Monday, 30 June, 6.15pm 

Tauranga      
Wednesday, 23 July, 6.00pm 

Carterton      
Friday, 29 August, 7.00pm 

Nelson
​Wednesday, 08 October, 6.00pm

Westport     
Wednesday, 12 November, 7.00pm
RETRO CLASSICS >>