Ken Loach
- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Unlike virtually all his contemporaries, Ken Loach has never succumbed
to the siren call of Hollywood, and it's virtually impossible to
imagine his particular brand of British socialist realism translating
well to that context.
After studying law at St. Peter's College,
Oxford, he branched out into the theater, performing with a touring
repertory company. This led to television, where in alliance with
producer Tony Garnett he produced a series
of docudramas, most notably the devastating "Cathy Come Home" episode
of
The Wednesday Play (1964),
whose impact was so massive that it led directly to a change in the
homeless laws.
He made his feature debut
Poor Cow (1967) the following year, and
with Kes (1969), he produced what is now
acclaimed as one of the finest films ever made in Britain. However, the
following two decades saw his career in the doldrums with his films
poorly distributed (despite the obvious quality of work such as
The Gamekeeper (1968)
and Looks and Smiles (1981)) and
his TV work in some cases never broadcast (most notoriously, his
documentaries on the 1984 miners' strike).
He made a spectacular
comeback in the 1990s, with a series of award-winning films firmly
establishing him in the pantheon of great European directors - his
films have always been more popular in mainland Europe than in his
native country or the US (where
Riff-Raff (1991) was shown with
subtitles because of the wide range of dialects).
Hidden Agenda (1990) won the
Special Jury Prize at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival;
Riff-Raff (1991) won the Felix award
for Best European Film of 1992;
Raining Stones (1993) won the
Cannes Special Jury Prize for 1993, and
Land and Freedom (1995) won the
FIPRESCI International Critics Prize and the Ecumenical Jury Prize at
the 1995 Cannes Film Festival - and was a substantial box-office hit in
Spain where it sparked intense debate about its subject matter. This
needless to say, was one of the reasons that Loach made the film!
to the siren call of Hollywood, and it's virtually impossible to
imagine his particular brand of British socialist realism translating
well to that context.
After studying law at St. Peter's College,
Oxford, he branched out into the theater, performing with a touring
repertory company. This led to television, where in alliance with
producer Tony Garnett he produced a series
of docudramas, most notably the devastating "Cathy Come Home" episode
of
The Wednesday Play (1964),
whose impact was so massive that it led directly to a change in the
homeless laws.
He made his feature debut
Poor Cow (1967) the following year, and
with Kes (1969), he produced what is now
acclaimed as one of the finest films ever made in Britain. However, the
following two decades saw his career in the doldrums with his films
poorly distributed (despite the obvious quality of work such as
The Gamekeeper (1968)
and Looks and Smiles (1981)) and
his TV work in some cases never broadcast (most notoriously, his
documentaries on the 1984 miners' strike).
He made a spectacular
comeback in the 1990s, with a series of award-winning films firmly
establishing him in the pantheon of great European directors - his
films have always been more popular in mainland Europe than in his
native country or the US (where
Riff-Raff (1991) was shown with
subtitles because of the wide range of dialects).
Hidden Agenda (1990) won the
Special Jury Prize at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival;
Riff-Raff (1991) won the Felix award
for Best European Film of 1992;
Raining Stones (1993) won the
Cannes Special Jury Prize for 1993, and
Land and Freedom (1995) won the
FIPRESCI International Critics Prize and the Ecumenical Jury Prize at
the 1995 Cannes Film Festival - and was a substantial box-office hit in
Spain where it sparked intense debate about its subject matter. This
needless to say, was one of the reasons that Loach made the film!