Kes (1969)

Synopsis

Named by the British Film Institute as one of the ten best British films of the century, Ken Loach’s Kes, is cinema’s quintessential portrait of working-class Northern England.

Billy (an astonishingly naturalistic David Bradley) is a fifteen-year-old miner’s son whose close bond with a wild kestrel provides him with a spiritual escape from his dead-end life.



Kes established the sociopolitical engagement and artistic brilliance of its filmmaker, and pushed the British “angry young man” film of the sixties into a new realm of authenticity, using real locations and nonprofessional actors.

Loach’s poignant coming-of-age drama remains its now legendary director’s most beloved and influential film. –The Criterion Collection

Cast: David Bradley, Freddie Fletcher, Lynne Perrie, Colin Welland, Brian Glover, Bob Bowes, Bernard Atha, Zoe Sutherland

Cannes (Semaine de la Critique), New York, London, Karlovy Vary (Competition): Crystal Globe, Cannes (La séance du Parrain), New York

Read about this film

Country: United Kingdom
Language: English
Color: Color
Runtime: 110 min.