Kes (1969)
Genre: Drama
Duration: 110 minuten
Country:
United Kingdom
Directed by: Ken Loach
Stars: David Bradley, Freddie Fletcher and Lynne Perrie
IMDb score:
7,9 (25.579)
Releasedate: 18 November 1969
Kes plot
"They broke his heart but they couldn’t break his spirit."
Billy Casper is from the shabby area of Barnsley. He cannot concentrate at school and is regularly beaten up by his brother. One day, however, he finds a 'Kestrel', a wild bird, and it sparks another side of his character.
Actors and actresses
Billy
Jud
Mrs. Casper
Mr. Farthing
Mr. Sugden
Mr. Gryce
Youth Employment Officer
Pub Comic
Fish and Chip Shop Man
Milkman
Reviews & comments
baspls
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- 4118 messages
- 1673 votes
Kes is a very strong but also quite depressing drama about a boy who grows up in the poor neighborhood of a British industrial city. The roles are all well played from the lead role Billy to the quintessential gym teacher, all in the local dialect of Barnsley which gives the whole thing a lot of authenticity.
It is very nice to see how Billy - in the eyes of others a good-for-nothing who will probably have to work in the mines - finds an excuse in the kestrel he is training. Great to see how he gets into this. But unfortunately his heartless environment has to take that away from him too.
A strongly acted and beautifully shot realistic drama from Ken Loach.
Translated from Dutch · View original
tbouwh
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- 5823 messages
- 5404 votes
Classic social-realistic drama about a boy who finds a way to escape his precarious home situation. Surprisingly, relatively little film time is devoted to the roles played by Billy's parents - rather we see how rotten and edifying the British school system was in this context. It gives Kes a slightly too controlled character at times - the evil in Billy's world can easily be localized - but the thoughtful direction and the appropriate music make up for it. Boudewijn Koole has carefully looked at Kes in the context of his Kauwboy (2012).
Translated from Dutch · View original
Fisico
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- 10039 messages
- 5398 votes
An old Ken Loach. Less socio-economically critical than what I'm used to from him, but making drama films is in his blood. Life in a shabby area of an industrial city is no fun. We are in the period leading up to major national workers' strikes in the mining industry, among others. Not much of that is visible in the film. Billy knows one thing though, he never wants to work in the mine.
Billy is having a hard time. At school, at home... He hardly has any friends. Loach concentrates, among other things, on school life in the working-class neighbourhood. It won't make you happy. Corporal punishment with the rule on the hands is commonplace. The condescending authoritarian commentary is also little pedagogically sound today. And that one sports teacher, a caricature who may have really existed, is incredibly self-satisfied with himself. A form of social criticism by Loach, then? That football match between ManU and Spurs was great!
It becomes interesting when Billy sees a way out of his insignificant existence when he trains a falcon and devotes himself entirely to it. However, it is written in the stars that you are actually waiting for it to go wrong. Happy endings are simply not spent on Ken Loach.
Translated from Dutch · View original
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