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A fresh wind: Director Ken Loach always defies convention
Of all his film titles, The Wind That Shakes The Barley probably best describes English director Ken Loach. During a career spanning more than four decades, Loach has consistently pushed the boundaries and stayed true to his vision in the face of great pressure.
Unconventional and uncompromising, he set the political tone of his career with the groundbreaking television docu-drama Up The Junction in 1965. Watched by nearly 10 million viewers when it was first aired on the BBC, it sparked a national debate on its subject matter, abortion, which led to the legalisation of the procedure in Britain less than two years later.
His ability to send shockwaves across the country through his powerful portrayal of social realism was established with his 1966 TV drama Cathy Come Home. The heartbreaking tale of a family's spiral into homelessness and poverty brought the hedonism of the Swinging Sixties down to earth with a bump. As well as sparking national concern, it gave a timely boost to the British homeless charity Shelter which launched, by coincidence, just a fortnight after it was screened.
Finest film
In 1969 he created one of the finest films ever made in Britain in the form of Kes, a story about a boy who trains a kestrel as an escape from being bullied both at home and school.
The film's observational style became Loach's signature and provided a natural medium for improvisation by its untrained actors, including David Bradley who played the lead role Billy.
As well as seeking out new talent from ordinary people able to draw from personal experience of the issues faced by characters, Loach likes to extract genuine surprise, shock and emotion from his actors by springing the unexpected on them on camera. Indeed, when faced with a dead bird in the final scenes of Kes, the boy actor falsely believed it was the actual kestrel he had become so close to during filming, prompting a very real reaction.
Back again
In the 1980s, however, Loach's career took a dive due to poor distribution and some of his work was never aired due to political reasons.
But he found favour once more in the 1990s with a series of critically acclaimed films and three awards at the Cannes Film Festival.
In May this year he won the Palme d'Or at Cannes for The Wind That Shakes The Barley which offers a controversial insight into the Irish uprising against British rule in the 1920s.
Profile
Name: Ken Loach.
Born: June 17, 1936 in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England.
Career: A BAFTA-award winning director, writer and producer of films, television dramas and documentaries.
Highlights: Cathy Come Home (1966), Kes (1969), Days Of Hope (1975), Riff-Raff (1990),
Land And Freedom (1995), Carla's Song (1996), Bread And Roses (2000), Sweet Sixteen (2002), The Wind That Shakes The Barley (2006).
Style: Non-conformist
Personal: He has had five children with wife Lesley Ashton and lives in Bath, England.
Quote: “A movie isn't a political movement, a party or even an article. It's just a film. At best it can add its voice to public outrage.”
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