I was Billy Casper in 1969/70 when asked....."What do you want to do next week when you leave school?" I didn't know then and I don't know now.......................................and I'm 70!
I grew up in the North of England and you can't overestimate how important that film was to working class kids growing up in from its release forward. It is has a very important place in British life.
Filmed in my hometown Barnsley where we have a full sized Bronze Statue of Billy, many of the places including the school (which was the same school the author Barry Hines and Main Actor David Bradley aka Billy actually went to) were and are still used today including the Chip Shop he gets food from it is now called "Casper's". Billy's English Teacher was the only professional actor in the ENTIRE film the rest being amateurs including The Headmaster who was actually Headmaster at a local school and the PE teacher was also a Teacher from a local school and all the extra's were just normal children at school! Also the children who got caned on the hand were really caned by the Headmaster and got paid an additional 10 shillings or 50p for their troubles! (The Yorkshire/Barnsley dialect was so hard for others to understand even in other parts of the UK that some scenes were actually re-dubbed for the American release and some American Executives said they could understand Hungarian better than the dialect in the film).
Thanks for all this great information! As an American watching the film, I thought all the amateur actors did an excellent job and that's a testament to the wonderful direction that they were given.
Yorkshire people are the friendliest and most down-to-earth I've ever met. And today its still a beautiful part of England. People from London say "it's grim up North", but that's far from the truth. It was really great hearing an Americans view on this quintessentially British film. Thanks!
Your review is spot on..I was brought up 10 miles from where this was filmed and I am from a mining family. I first watched Kes when I was 10 years old. Its a touchstone piece of work. It still raises questions as much today as then.Growing up we all knew a Billy Casper, we all knew a PE teacher (Coach) as in the film, a happy milkman, a grumpy newsagent, a good teacher a bad headmaster a kestrel (in my case an air rifle)..and a working mens club.This film was uncomfortably close to our truth.I have wondered how the Billy Caspers of our world progressed and where are they now. He was inquisitive, not as daft as he thought he was (and he wasn't going down the pit, which turned out to be a top career move) and he probably ended up maybe on the first rung in an engineering firm and probably became pretty good at his job. (with a shed full of racing pigeons) So what of the Billies of today... they are still out there, they certainly still talk the same...the difference is I worry more for them now than I did 50 years ago. Maybe there should be a Kes 2...the Kestrels are certainly still around, the air rifle isn't.
Excellent review, you really paid attention to a lot of fairly subtle aspects of the movie, and your understanding of British working class life at that time has undoubtedly been enhanced by the movie. As you say, the universal message is unmistakable, and I personally think that this, besides the direct connection we Brits have with the movie, is one of its greatest strengths, and at least one of the reasons such a shoestring-budget movie has been held in such high esteem, even after all these years. Thanks mate, it's great to hear an "outsider"'s perspective, and reaffirming to know that it resonates in such a familiar way.
@@TheChoiceVoice Glad the you enjoyed one of the most highly rated films in British film history. Another reason that this film has a documentary feel is the incredibly naturalistic performances that Loach gets from his cast, as he does in all of his many films. I'd recommend that you watch one of his more recent films "I, Daniel Blake", which won the 2016 Palme D'Or at Cannes. It's well worth your time. Regarding the interview that Billy had. I think he was smart enough to know that training a kestrel was not going to be a pathway to a job in that area, and besides it was something very personal to him.
An excellent review of a British classic. I grew up in England around this time, and the characters portrait are so very real. So well done you for "getting it. "
I didn't even think about the Yorkshire accent when I sent it. Good thing it comes with subtitles. Kes is a realistic film. If you grew up poor in the North of England back in the 60's-70's. You were almost destined to work down the pits. Caning in schools was only stopped about 26 years ago here in England. Billy keeping Kes taught him how to read better than the school did! Because he had motivation to learn. Knowing your destined for the pits is no motivation for children at all! Great review
exoddus1 the accent is as thick as they come. And the vocabulary takes some effort to understand too. Like they still use “thy” and “thou” Jesus. But this film is absolutely brilliant and beautiful. I watched it as an adult and still made me think and see things differently. One of those few movies that leave you sat on the coach for minutes after it’s over just thinking “wow”. Great review 👍🏻👏🏻
I showed it to an American girl once. No spoilers but when it ended she's like "What? Is that how it ends?" I go "Yep, it's a British movie, we don't follow standard movie formats". 🤣
Outstanding review. You really managed to get to the heart of the film and it’s themes describing the characters and narrative to perfection... I grew in a deprived neighbourhood just like the film portrays and went to school about a decade after this film was shot. The people on the film, especially the sports teacher, was still a feature of our schooling back then. Thankfully thing have changed significantly since then...
Yes, teachers were allowed to hit kids up until around the 1980s. And the PE teacher is a very realistic representation of how they are. Great to hear an American opinion on this, and btw, you might have found that football scene a lot funnier if you had a background knowledge about English football, like the line "Dennis laws in the wash this week"
I had a PE teacher very like the one Brian Glover portrays in the film. I was so terrified of him I used to hide to in the jacks during P.E. lessons. A lot of those guys were ex army types.
It's funny, I was born in 1981 and there was one teacher who used to go around poking students on the top of the head (she basically had talons for nails), often drawing blood, right up until I left that school in 1991. I'd imagine she'd be instantly fired nowadays. I'm glad I just missed the days of real violence. some of the stories my dad (born in 1947), who went to school in Wigan, told me were outright frightening.
Just seen this review and was very impressed.I live a mile from the area where it was filmed (Hoyland Common, Barnsley) and I walk past the old ruins everyday where he got the kestral ..The subtitle comment made me laugh..The Barnsley twang is really strong Yorkshire..well done with the review and I'll (Yorkshire) si thi darn tarn toneet fo a few bevies but dunt fget thi coyt cos it's gunna be bitta mi owd cocka...😁👍
The film was fantastic and reflected a reality..for people born in these places and went to schools like this..it is almost a documentary,but made with great poetry of course..I am so pleased it translates .anyone can understand tis film...thank you for this review.
For an American. Ur understanding of this film is really really good I’m surprised. U must be a rly open minded person man. Keep up the great work I’ve subscribed
Have you seen these films ? All are on the BFI top 100 list This is England (plus the follow up tv series) //Dead mans shoes// Rita sue and Bob too // Nil by mouth // Naked // shallow grave // trainspotting// scum // made in britian// all of these films are absolute quality
Great review. I'm from the south of England and I struggle with the accents at times, no wonder you needed subtitles! My favourite bit is when the teacher is asking him what he wants to do, and he doesn't know. He might have an idea, but he is too poor and low on confidence to say so.
Good review and speaking as a Brit who was around the same age as Billy in 1969 , I was also slapped hard in the face by a Biology teacher although he did ask me to take my glasses off first (VERY CONSIDERATE) . This was done in class in front of all my class mates. I never mentioned it to my parents as I was messing about in class and took it as a normal punishment, how times change.
I saw this film when I was a little kid- the lack of sentimentality shocked me, but proved to be the most important feature of the movie. Great review.
Thank you for your time and insight into this lesser known (in the USA) movie. It was referenced in a book I'm reading, and wanted to find out if it were worth watching. It sounds like it is, from your perspective. Appreciate it! Thanks!
Great review. So some insight here. The Film was based on a book called "Kestrel for a Knave" by Barry Hines, a fascinating writer who was studying to be a Physical Education Teacher and was a semi-pro soccer player (He had trials at Manchester United). He also wrote the brilliant "Threads" about the aftermath and long term effects on society of a nuclear device hitting the city of Sheffield, a TV series Ronald Reagan famously watched during the height of the cold war. For many school children "Kestrel for a Knave" remains the book that encouraged them to enjoy books and used to be on the UK school curriculum. As a school child in the 1970s it was common place for teachers to hit children. Caning or "the birch" was a common way to punish children. I experienced teachers just as brutal (if not more) as the sports teacher played superbly by the famous British Actor, Brian Glover. The football scene is a classic and hilarious observation that many a British schoolchild would have experienced from a bullying games teacher. The caring teacher is played by Colin Welland who also wrote the screenplay and won an oscar for Chariots of Fire. I superb book and film and one cherished by so many in the UK.
@@TheChoiceVoice Not sure youll be able to see this just yet but a streaming service called BritBox is launching with the best box sets of UK TV shows... this was on last week:- Greg Davies: Looking for Kes: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000bh0n via @bbciplayer
A very decent and sensitive review 👏🏻, especially from someone from across the pond 🇺🇸🇬🇧, given both the cultural and racial divide between reviewer and the filums place of origin and subject. Kes is a very accurate slice of Working class British life of that time. A classic. This filum was made from a time when Britain 🇬🇧 was very recognisably still very British unlike now. It is avery different country now, unrecognisable. This is my first viewing of your content, i shall watch more 👏🏻
Kes is probably the most realistic snapshot of life growing up in the 70's and 80's, even the Police would take their belt to you... The snowflakes of today should be made to watch Kes and re-evaluate their entitled lives instead of blaming everything on the generation that lived through this .... It's because of our experiences that you have the life you have today....!
No problem at all Michael. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Looking forward to more reviews from you. Especially "Waltz with Bashir". That's my favorite film of the ones I sent you. In fact, it would be in my top 30 films of all time! That's just my opinion though. You may hate it. That's what's great about watching other peoples reviews!
Nice comment Sir . I hope you are not too much offended by my opinion of your time visiting Harrogate and Ripon , thinking that is what all of Yorkshire is like .
Interesting to hear an American view on this film. As you say, it is very highly acclaimed here in the UK, and that's because of its sheer realism. I can assure you too that the sports teacher was very realistic. Brian Glover (known to Americans as the bald prison guard in Alien 3), was actually a sports teacher and picked for the role because of it. It was very common for teachers to hit kids in those days, and it was part of school life up until the 80's. That was a good review - it's very much a British film made for a British audience, but you made some good points, especially the positive message that the main character finds a skill and an interest that could change his life.
I think perhaps Brian Glover had played the part of a joke-telling village resident in a pub ("remember the Alamo") in an early scene of "An American Werewolf in London". If you know this movie,you know the character.
@@eddenoy321 We had a sadistic PE teacher at my secondary school in North Yorkshire. He had been on Norwich City's books as a junior and failed to make the grade - and now someone was going to pay for it - us! I recall one football session. Both sides had been selected and my team automatically went to our side of the pitch. As we limbered up, we all became uncomfortably aware that the other team were still sat around him receiving instructions. We shiftily returned to receive a hefty watch on the buttocks from a training shoe.
Great review I grew up in the 70s and 80s this film is how it was in Britain give me the choice between then and now apart from the invention of the internet take me back please people had manners and morals back then
I am from Sheffield, next to Barnsley where Kes was filmed, Threads is set in Sheffield and is about what happens to the people in a Nuclear Holocaust. Extra scary for me, seeing my home nuked!..Been watching your reviews for a while, you always have interesting things to say and are on the money, keep up the excellent work!.
1960's 70's Kicked punched pulled around by the hair, canned, wooden spoon the slipper, this from infants to senior schooling went through it at home as well. Protestant infants school, then onto Catholic for a whole lot more. GOD BLESS ALL.
Hey my Friend! I was born in 1960. I went to school in 1965, by the time i went to secondary school, 1972, yes we were belted at every mistake someone made( Not a mistake? Being a twat?) Was given the belt (everyone) whenever anyone was out of line! Not bringing your homework in ? Belt! Walking on the wrong side of the corridor? Walk on the left, slowly! BE Quiet? Belt! 1970's was a Teacher/ Masochists dream!
Jae Roberts I was born in 69 in Honeywell. My claim to fame is that he ran past my house on his way to the paper shop, near the beginning of the film whilst I was apparently in the living room. Autographs on request lol.
Nice review. The story makes you wonder how many kids could have been saved from going down the wrong road if they'd had more positive influences growing up.
Wow...that's pretty cool. I must revisit this film and give my thoughts on it again. I really appreciate the kindness that my brothers and sisters across the pond have shown me for my attempt at talking about this movie. Thank you and everyone for your kindness.
I hope one of the uk films you were given to watch was HOBSONS CHOICE! Another uk classic from 1954. If not definately watch this movie and enjoy!! The film KES was very much in line with uk schools of the late 60's and early 70's in northern England!! I remember school very well and teachers and their behaviour and discipline was just as depicted in kes!
@@TheChoiceVoice you would really enjoy it I hooe, especially if you liked Kes. Warning though, Threads is far grittier, frighteningly real and haunted me when I watched it in 1984 aged 9. It is another low budget, but hugely atmospheric film. Thank you again for your interesting analysis on Kes 🙂
The only trained actor in the movie was Colin Welland , the teacher that watches Billy flying the a kestrel. The rest were real teachers ( Welland was a former teacher) , variety performers, a wrestler ( Brian Glover-the sport teacher) and children of the school. The movie was not released in the USA due to the accent , so well done !
A very good review from an American. Ken loach is a brilliant director and you should try to catch The wind that shakes the barley and I Daniel Blake as they are both excellent.l went to school in Ireland in the 70s and getting 6 of the best from the cane or a strap was normal.l love Kes as it is a realistic depiction of life at that time
If you enjoyed Kes, you should definitely check out Ken Loach's other films - The Navigators is about the privatization of British Rail in the mid-90s as seen from the perspective of the blue-collar railway workers, and Looks and Smiles (which is freely available on YT at the time of my writing this!) is about the 80s unemployment problems in northern England. Both are shot in traditional dialect using all local actors, just like Kes.
Great film .great director KEN LOACH all his films are about the working class under dog, he is a genuine class warrior who champions the "have nots" in society ,he has never deviated from the class devide theme.
@ tommytoploader . I'm from Bristol but have been to Yorkshire many times. My cousin went to the army college in Harrogate. After he passed collage he then went to Catterick. I would drive up and visit him all the time. We would watch Bristol City play or go to the horse racing tracks in Yorkshire. It's a beautiful place. I absolutely love Ripon. I've been there a couple of times. I will go back there again one day.
This really is a true slice of English life. It's a brilliant film. It is in my top 5 films. One flew over the cuckoo's nest remains top. Another good film is Crash.
Great review! I'm also from Bristol, so it seems you have quite a following over here. As for teachers in the UK, I can't say that I experienced the slapping etc, but then the cane had been banned for a few years by the time I was in school. I do remember people having to wear all sorts of randomly sized clothing for sports classes. If they didn't have or forgot their kit then they would have to wear something from the lost property bin.
I was 8 when this film came out. I saw it at our local cinema in Scotland. The teachers did slap, punch and give you the belt, in Scotland. We didn’t use the cane.
Teachers were just like that back then, going right up to the 80s and 90s it was common, even after 'the cane' was outlawed. We had a teacher from 1990-95 who used to pick kids up by the ears and lock them in this little stock room, slap them around etc. He was a real piece of work, I caught him checking girls out several times.
It has been a while since I've seen the film and I am looking forward to watching it again and giving my thoughts on it anew. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts here.
As to slapping a kid in public schools,I can say that it was very rarely done. It's not done in basic military training,why would it be done at middle school ? But we did receive our thrashing in our own homes. In the USA anyway.
Yorkshire has changed an awful lot since then, but some things are still the same. It's a great place to live with very warm, down to earth people, who are noted for their cynical sense of humour. The surrounding countryside is spectacular, earning it the name 'Gods county', the Peak District in neighbouring Derbyshire is stunning and the second most visited national park on the planet after the Fiji Islands. Can be seen in the films The Princess Bride and The Wolfman.
Very good review, only just seen it. I grew up in Barnsley(where it was filmed) in the 70’s and got punched a lot by the teachers (I did have a big mouth) but it was just part of growing up back then. Same as the police who did the same thing, the teachers weren’t bullies though I always got what was coming to me. Still a great film and book, hope it’s still part of the school curriculum.
I just watched this movie, the football coach was so terrible it was hilarious. The brother was a psychopath. The English teacher who broke up the fight gave the movie a lot of hope. The ending was tragic of course. I watched this movie with subtitles, and the naturalistic acting was very enjoyable.
All the actors were just local people who had never acted before except 2 teachers. And yes it was socially acceptable for the teachers to beat, hit and bamboo cane you. my music teachers once threw a brass doorknob he kept in his drawer at me i ducked and it hit this lass behind me. Mr west our art teacher used to punch girls in the back of the head as well as boys then call you fat head. Ahhhhh the good old days i miss them.
Very good review mate. I’m born and bred in Barnsley where it was filmed and went straight down the pit from school, which was the done thing back then. One of my main problems with the film is the language and dialect. A lot of it was overdubbed in some releases and it takes away the true Barnsley accent. A couple of examples are; “you”, which is nearly always “thee”, “you will” is “thal or “thad”, depending on context, “light” is “leet”, “night “ is “neet ”, “right” is “reyt” and so on. Barnsley, like a lot of Northern towns, was a bit of a craphole back then going through massive redevelopment. In fact a lot of the streets seen in the film have long since gone or have changed beyond recognition. A lot has changed though, there are now no pits, not much industry to speak of and, the main one for me, there seems to be no loyalty or sense of “being” among the people, possibly due to the mass influx of Eastern European immigrants in recent years. It certainly has little resemblance to the town I grew up in, which I find very sad.
That was the system that I grow up in. 1960's London schools had nasty teachers. I was caned and hit by teachers a number of times. I remember seeing Kes in class at that time and thinking it was just like my school life. Without the coal mines.
The guy who played Billys gym teacher, Brian Glover, was an ex-pro wrestler, so those slaps must have hurt! Incidentally, you may remember him from Alien 3.
You should check out Dead Mans Shoes (2004) nought wrong. That's defo one English film to check out, one of the best films I've ever encountered. Nil by Mouth (1997) also being a classic along with Naked (1993). Just some recommendations. Great review though, especially as you come from America aswell.
Went to school in the 70s in Birmingham. In the gym, I remember our sports teacher picking me up by the hair and screaming at me after I'd done something wrong. He also doubled up as a maths teacher. Never learnt a thing from him and my maths was really bad till my last year or two at school.
it was a great emotional film. and very realistic. i had a teacher who was greek canadian, and he was a child in 1960s canada. in his perspective, he would be beaten by both the teacher and his father if he misbehaved in class, or skip school entirely. my parents also had this type of punishiment when they were children in the 1960s. it was common for teachers to beat thier students if they misbehaved. it became taboo some time around the 1990s. though surpsingly in some usa states, whipping children in schools is still legal.
Some more Brit films that you may also enjoy that don't re-enforce the myth that everyone in England is a loveable middle-class, Hugh Grant styled eccentric are....The revenge thriller by Shane Meadows-Dead Man's Shoes....Alan Clarkes 1979 borstal/prison film, Scum and the 1979 Gangster film The Long Good Friday....Kill List is also a good Brit Thriller/Horror film and you cant really go wrong with anything directed by Ken Loach..met the man and he's great!
Billy knows it is futile telling the Councillor about his interest in falconry as he won't be able to find a suitable role for him. His horizons are very limited.
I am from Yorkshire and grew up right by where Kes was filmed. Always been one of my favourite films. Teachers were like that and it was culturally acceptable to teach in that manner. Even after the cane was abolished, they would still give us the odd whack and my old gym teacher was identical to the teacher. Great review, check out the Barry Hines written film Threads, which i consider to be the ultimate horror film! Also set in Yorkshire. Search Threads HD on youtube..be warned its grim!
I was Billy Casper in 1969/70 when asked....."What do you want to do next week when you leave school?"
I didn't know then and I don't know now.......................................and I'm 70!
I grew up in the North of England and you can't overestimate how important that film was to working class kids growing up in from its release forward. It is has a very important place in British life.
For Someone who doesnt live in the UK' That was a brilliant review'
i agree im from barnsley it was a great review ..
Filmed in my hometown Barnsley where we have a full sized Bronze Statue of Billy, many of the places including the school (which was the same school the author Barry Hines and Main Actor David Bradley aka Billy actually went to) were and are still used today including the Chip Shop he gets food from it is now called "Casper's".
Billy's English Teacher was the only professional actor in the ENTIRE film the rest being amateurs including The Headmaster who was actually Headmaster at a local school and the PE teacher was also a Teacher from a local school and all the extra's were just normal children at school! Also the children who got caned on the hand were really caned by the Headmaster and got paid an additional 10 shillings or 50p for their troubles!
(The Yorkshire/Barnsley dialect was so hard for others to understand even in other parts of the UK that some scenes were actually re-dubbed for the American release and some American Executives said they could understand Hungarian better than the dialect in the film).
Thanks for all this great information! As an American watching the film, I thought all the amateur actors did an excellent job and that's a testament to the wonderful direction that they were given.
Yorkshire people are the friendliest and most down-to-earth I've ever met. And today its still a beautiful part of England. People from London say "it's grim up North", but that's far from the truth. It was really great hearing an Americans view on this quintessentially British film. Thanks!
Humans from London Town and southerners in general are just ignorant!
Your review is spot on..I was brought up 10 miles from where this was filmed and I am from a mining family. I first watched Kes when I was 10 years old. Its a touchstone piece of work. It still raises questions as much today as then.Growing up we all knew a Billy Casper, we all knew a PE teacher (Coach) as in the film, a happy milkman, a grumpy newsagent, a good teacher a bad headmaster a kestrel (in my case an air rifle)..and a working mens club.This film was uncomfortably close to our truth.I have wondered how the Billy Caspers of our world progressed and where are they now. He was inquisitive, not as daft as he thought he was (and he wasn't going down the pit, which turned out to be a top career move) and he probably ended up maybe on the first rung in an engineering firm and probably became pretty good at his job. (with a shed full of racing pigeons)
So what of the Billies of today... they are still out there, they certainly still talk the same...the difference is I worry more for them now than I did 50 years ago. Maybe there should be a Kes 2...the Kestrels are certainly still around, the air rifle isn't.
Excellent review, you really paid attention to a lot of fairly subtle aspects of the movie, and your understanding of British working class life at that time has undoubtedly been enhanced by the movie. As you say, the universal message is unmistakable, and I personally think that this, besides the direct connection we Brits have with the movie, is one of its greatest strengths, and at least one of the reasons such a shoestring-budget movie has been held in such high esteem, even after all these years.
Thanks mate, it's great to hear an "outsider"'s perspective, and reaffirming to know that it resonates in such a familiar way.
Thank you sir so much for watching and leaving your comments.
@@TheChoiceVoice Glad the you enjoyed one of the most highly rated films in British film history.
Another reason that this film has a documentary feel is the incredibly naturalistic performances that Loach gets from his cast, as he does in all of his many films. I'd recommend that you watch one of his more recent films "I, Daniel Blake", which won the 2016 Palme D'Or at Cannes. It's well worth your time.
Regarding the interview that Billy had. I think he was smart enough to know that training a kestrel was not going to be a pathway to a job in that area, and besides it was something very personal to him.
An excellent review of a British classic. I grew up in England around this time, and the characters portrait are so very real. So well done you for "getting it. "
Same here mate. Lancashire was much the same. 👍
I grew up around this time too, in Birmingham. Yeah, the portrayal of the teachers is nor far off how I remember them.
I didn't even think about the Yorkshire accent when I sent it. Good thing it comes with subtitles. Kes is a realistic film. If you grew up poor in the North of England back in the 60's-70's. You were almost destined to work down the pits. Caning in schools was only stopped about 26 years ago here in England. Billy keeping Kes taught him how to read better than the school did! Because he had motivation to learn. Knowing your destined for the pits is no motivation for children at all! Great review
exoddus1 the accent is as thick as they come. And the vocabulary takes some effort to understand too. Like they still use “thy” and “thou” Jesus. But this film is absolutely brilliant and beautiful. I watched it as an adult and still made me think and see things differently. One of those few movies that leave you sat on the coach for minutes after it’s over just thinking “wow”. Great review 👍🏻👏🏻
A fantastic comment . Thank you .
I showed it to an American girl once. No spoilers but when it ended she's like "What? Is that how it ends?" I go "Yep, it's a British movie, we don't follow standard movie formats". 🤣
Outstanding review.
You really managed to get to the heart of the film and it’s themes describing the characters and narrative to perfection...
I grew in a deprived neighbourhood just like the film portrays and went to school about a decade after this film was shot. The people on the film, especially the sports teacher, was still a feature of our schooling back then. Thankfully thing have changed significantly since then...
Awesome - the first ever non Brit I've heard talk about the movie, thank you! :)
I started school when this film came out, and it is an accurate portrayal of what school was like.
Excellent review of my all time favourite movie. First saw it in1971 as a 7 year old. Brilliant.
Yes, teachers were allowed to hit kids up until around the 1980s. And the PE teacher is a very realistic representation of how they are. Great to hear an American opinion on this, and btw, you might have found that football scene a lot funnier if you had a background knowledge about English football, like the line "Dennis laws in the wash this week"
I had a PE teacher very like the one Brian Glover portrays in the film. I was so terrified of him I used to hide to in the jacks during P.E. lessons. A lot of those guys were ex army types.
It's funny, I was born in 1981 and there was one teacher who used to go around poking students on the top of the head (she basically had talons for nails), often drawing blood, right up until I left that school in 1991. I'd imagine she'd be instantly fired nowadays. I'm glad I just missed the days of real violence. some of the stories my dad (born in 1947), who went to school in Wigan, told me were outright frightening.
@@mikewalsh6168 yes, the ridicule was worse than the corporal punishment .
Well done for choosing that film.. respect
The councilor scene is so real for working class boys in Britain. Its the army or a building site for most of us
That’s a great review, well done mate. Probably my favourite film, interesting to hear a US perspective, the themes in this film are universal.
This is a great review from an American guy, for this great British classic!👌❤🇬🇧
Thank you sir.
Just seen this review and was very impressed.I live a mile from the area where it was filmed (Hoyland Common, Barnsley) and I walk past the old ruins everyday where he got the kestral ..The subtitle comment made me laugh..The Barnsley twang is really strong Yorkshire..well done with the review and I'll (Yorkshire) si thi darn tarn toneet fo a few bevies but dunt fget thi coyt cos it's gunna be bitta mi owd cocka...😁👍
Can I have that last bit in English please?
@@limedickandrew6016 see you down town tonight for a few beers but don't forget your coat because it's going to be cold my old friend..😊
@@gtaswfc4684 I know, I was only joking. I'm from Birmingham, no one understands us!
The film was fantastic and reflected a reality..for people born in these places and went to schools like this..it is almost a documentary,but made with great poetry of course..I am so pleased it translates .anyone can understand tis film...thank you for this review.
That's exactly the way it was. Glad that it hit a nerve with you & that you recomend it.
Grew up watching kes alot one of the greatest films. Amazing review mate.
I got punched down for yawning in PE, in the same era.
But Kes is an icon
His hope is your future
For an American. Ur understanding of this film is really really good I’m surprised. U must be a rly open minded person man. Keep up the great work I’ve subscribed
Thank you so much.
An interesting review from America of "Kes." Nice one, mate.
Set & shot in Barnsley.
Have you seen these films ? All are on the BFI top 100 list
This is England (plus the follow up tv series) //Dead mans shoes// Rita sue and Bob too // Nil by mouth // Naked // shallow grave // trainspotting// scum // made in britian// all of these films are absolute quality
Great list of films
Great review. I'm from the south of England and I struggle with the accents at times, no wonder you needed subtitles! My favourite bit is when the teacher is asking him what he wants to do, and he doesn't know. He might have an idea, but he is too poor and low on confidence to say so.
Great review mate, born and bred in the area where the film was filmed, great to hear a review from over the pond
Good review and speaking as a Brit who was around the same age as Billy in 1969 , I was also slapped hard in the face by a Biology teacher although he did ask me to take my glasses off first (VERY CONSIDERATE) . This was done in class in front of all my class mates. I never mentioned it to my parents as I was messing about in class and took it as a normal punishment, how times change.
I saw this film when I was a little kid- the lack of sentimentality shocked me, but proved to be the most important feature of the movie. Great review.
i grew up in the same area, about 10 years later than the film is set, and not much changed. the accent is still thick and the future was bleak.
So how does one escape the bleak future awaiting the youth of Yorkshire ? Both then and now ? Leave ? Education ?
Both, probably, though neither mutually exclusive nor mutually essential.
Thank you for your time and insight into this lesser known (in the USA) movie. It was referenced in a book I'm reading, and wanted to find out if it were worth watching. It sounds like it is, from your perspective. Appreciate it! Thanks!
My pleasure and thank you fr watching. I really enjoyed the film and one day soon, want to watch it again.
Great review. So some insight here. The Film was based on a book called "Kestrel for a Knave" by Barry Hines, a fascinating writer who was studying to be a Physical Education Teacher and was a semi-pro soccer player (He had trials at Manchester United). He also wrote the brilliant "Threads" about the aftermath and long term effects on society of a nuclear device hitting the city of Sheffield, a TV series Ronald Reagan famously watched during the height of the cold war.
For many school children "Kestrel for a Knave" remains the book that encouraged them to enjoy books and used to be on the UK school curriculum.
As a school child in the 1970s it was common place for teachers to hit children. Caning or "the birch" was a common way to punish children. I experienced teachers just as brutal (if not more) as the sports teacher played superbly by the famous British Actor, Brian Glover. The football scene is a classic and hilarious observation that many a British schoolchild would have experienced from a bullying games teacher.
The caring teacher is played by Colin Welland who also wrote the screenplay and won an oscar for Chariots of Fire.
I superb book and film and one cherished by so many in the UK.
Thank you kind sir for your informative comment. This series that you mention sound very interesting.
@@TheChoiceVoice Not sure youll be able to see this just yet but a streaming service called BritBox is launching with the best box sets of UK TV shows... this was on last week:-
Greg Davies: Looking for Kes: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000bh0n via @bbciplayer
Check out the director, Ken Loaches other films such as Land and Freedom, I Daniel Blake and Sorry I missed you. All superb
A very decent and sensitive review 👏🏻, especially from someone from across the pond 🇺🇸🇬🇧, given both the cultural and racial divide between reviewer and the filums place of origin and subject. Kes is a very accurate slice of Working class British life of that time. A classic. This filum was made from a time when Britain 🇬🇧 was very recognisably still very British unlike now. It is avery different country now, unrecognisable.
This is my first viewing of your content, i shall watch more 👏🏻
Thank you. I am a huge fan of the Hammer Horror films and if you search my playlist, youll find many Hammer reviews.
@@TheChoiceVoice I shall do that 👍🏻
Kes is probably the most realistic snapshot of life growing up in the 70's and 80's, even the Police would take their belt to you...
The snowflakes of today should be made to watch Kes and re-evaluate their entitled lives instead of blaming everything on the generation that lived through this ....
It's because of our experiences that you have the life you have today....!
No problem at all Michael. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Looking forward to more reviews from you. Especially "Waltz with Bashir". That's my favorite film of the ones I sent you. In fact, it would be in my top 30 films of all time! That's just my opinion though. You may hate it. That's what's great about watching other peoples reviews!
Nice comment Sir . I hope you are not too much offended by my opinion of your time visiting Harrogate and Ripon , thinking that is what all of Yorkshire is like .
i think you are 100% correct. it feels like real life and going back in time.
Interesting to hear an American view on this film. As you say, it is very highly acclaimed here in the UK, and that's because of its sheer realism. I can assure you too that the sports teacher was very realistic. Brian Glover (known to Americans as the bald prison guard in Alien 3), was actually a sports teacher and picked for the role because of it. It was very common for teachers to hit kids in those days, and it was part of school life up until the 80's. That was a good review - it's very much a British film made for a British audience, but you made some good points, especially the positive message that the main character finds a skill and an interest that could change his life.
I think perhaps Brian Glover had played the part of a joke-telling village resident in a pub ("remember the Alamo") in an early scene of "An American Werewolf in London". If you know this movie,you know the character.
@@eddenoy321 We had a sadistic PE teacher at my secondary school in North Yorkshire. He had been on Norwich City's books as a junior and failed to make the grade - and now someone was going to pay for it - us!
I recall one football session. Both sides had been selected and my team automatically went to our side of the pitch. As we limbered up, we all became uncomfortably aware that the other team were still sat around him receiving instructions. We shiftily returned to receive a hefty watch on the buttocks from a training shoe.
Great review I grew up in the 70s and 80s this film is how it was in Britain give me the choice between then and now apart from the invention of the internet take me back please people had manners and morals back then
I am from Sheffield, next to Barnsley where Kes was filmed, Threads is set in Sheffield and is about what happens to the people in a Nuclear Holocaust. Extra scary for me, seeing my home nuked!..Been watching your reviews for a while, you always have interesting things to say and are on the money, keep up the excellent work!.
1960's 70's Kicked punched pulled around by the hair, canned, wooden spoon the slipper, this from infants to senior schooling went through it at home as well. Protestant infants school, then onto Catholic for a whole lot more. GOD BLESS ALL.
Kes, a normal day in the life of many who grow-up in 60s-70s.
Hey my Friend! I was born in 1960. I went to school in 1965, by the time i went to secondary school, 1972, yes we were belted at every mistake someone made( Not a mistake? Being a twat?) Was given the belt (everyone) whenever anyone was out of line! Not bringing your homework in ? Belt! Walking on the wrong side of the corridor? Walk on the left, slowly! BE Quiet? Belt! 1970's was a Teacher/ Masochists dream!
Thanks for the review. I love this movie.
Very welcome.
This film was filmed around my area , in fact the place where billy works / does his paper round is on my dads street 😁
Jae Roberts I was born in 69 in Honeywell. My claim to fame is that he ran past my house on his way to the paper shop, near the beginning of the film whilst I was apparently in the living room. Autographs on request lol.
Enjoyed this, subscribed. Also the PE teacher plays Bobby Charlton in Yorkshire so he gets a free pass.
Thank you kind sir. I appreciate the subscription and the info.
Only played Charlton because Dennis Law was in the wash.
Nice review. The story makes you wonder how many kids could have been saved from going down the wrong road if they'd had more positive influences growing up.
My friend Steve was a pupil at the school in the film when they made it, some of his mates are in it! Grew up to be an artist and art lecturer.
Wow...that's pretty cool. I must revisit this film and give my thoughts on it again. I really appreciate the kindness that my brothers and sisters across the pond have shown me for my attempt at talking about this movie. Thank you and everyone for your kindness.
I hope one of the uk films you were given to watch was HOBSONS CHOICE! Another uk classic from 1954. If not definately watch this movie and enjoy!!
The film KES was very much in line with uk schools of the late 60's and early 70's in northern England!! I remember school very well and teachers and their behaviour and discipline was just as depicted in kes!
Thank you for that perspective sir. I shall indeed look into the film that you recommended.
Really great review. Another Barry Hines classic for gritty realism is the nuclear apocalypse film Threads, set in another English northern town.
Thank you. I'll have to watch that one.
@@TheChoiceVoice you would really enjoy it I hooe, especially if you liked Kes. Warning though, Threads is far grittier, frighteningly real and haunted me when I watched it in 1984 aged 9. It is another low budget, but hugely atmospheric film. Thank you again for your interesting analysis on Kes 🙂
I'm very impressed. Nice Channel.
The football scene is a British classic,,, every school in the late 60s and the 70s had a teacher like that.
Thanks, for the review. Interesting to see an American point of view.
Its fundamentally about the class system.
That was Northern England mate, trust me. I like your review also. 👍
The only trained actor in the movie was Colin Welland , the teacher that watches Billy flying the a kestrel. The rest were real teachers ( Welland was a former teacher) , variety performers, a wrestler ( Brian Glover-the sport teacher) and children of the school.
The movie was not released in the USA due to the accent , so well done !
A right British classic!
yes alot of teachers in the u.k. were like that in those days.
It's one of the best movie's ever
True story
A great film true to life totally realistic of its time and era that's how it was .5 star 🌟
A very good review from an American. Ken loach is a brilliant director and you should try to catch The wind that shakes the barley and I Daniel Blake as they are both excellent.l went to school in Ireland in the 70s and getting 6 of the best from the cane or a strap was normal.l love Kes as it is a realistic depiction of life at that time
I'll give those films a look my friend. Thank you.
If you enjoyed Kes, you should definitely check out Ken Loach's other films - The Navigators is about the privatization of British Rail in the mid-90s as seen from the perspective of the blue-collar railway workers, and Looks and Smiles (which is freely available on YT at the time of my writing this!) is about the 80s unemployment problems in northern England. Both are shot in traditional dialect using all local actors, just like Kes.
Great film .great director KEN LOACH all his films are about the working class under dog, he is a genuine class warrior who champions the "have nots" in society ,he has never deviated from the class devide theme.
I'll have to look him up. He sounds like my kind of filmmaker. Thank you for the info.
I just watched this....it was great....also great review
@ tommytoploader . I'm from Bristol but have been to Yorkshire many times. My cousin went to the army college in Harrogate. After he passed collage he then went to Catterick. I would drive up and visit him all the time. We would watch Bristol City play or go to the horse racing tracks in Yorkshire. It's a beautiful place. I absolutely love Ripon. I've been there a couple of times. I will go back there again one day.
exoddus1 harrogate and ripon (affluent north Yorkshire) are polar opposites to the pit villages of south Yorkshire
@@ooo-rl7zt Well said mate . Harrogate and Ripon are lovely but it's like comparing Chelsea to Toxtheth because they are both in ' that London ' .
This really is a true slice of English life. It's a brilliant film. It is in my top 5 films. One flew over the cuckoo's nest remains top. Another good film is Crash.
Great review! I'm also from Bristol, so it seems you have quite a following over here. As for teachers in the UK, I can't say that I experienced the slapping etc, but then the cane had been banned for a few years by the time I was in school. I do remember people having to wear all sorts of randomly sized clothing for sports classes. If they didn't have or forgot their kit then they would have to wear something from the lost property bin.
I was 8 when this film came out. I saw it at our local cinema in Scotland. The teachers did slap, punch and give you the belt, in Scotland. We didn’t use the cane.
Tell me, did the parents ever get upset over their children being punished?
@@TheChoiceVoice No, they said we deserved it.
Teachers were just like that back then, going right up to the 80s and 90s it was common, even after 'the cane' was outlawed. We had a teacher from 1990-95 who used to pick kids up by the ears and lock them in this little stock room, slap them around etc. He was a real piece of work, I caught him checking girls out several times.
The film is 100% accurate as to how life and education was in Yorkshire in the 1970s. I know I was that soldier!
It has been a while since I've seen the film and I am looking forward to watching it again and giving my thoughts on it anew. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts here.
Could you review 'If...' too?
Sorry, I don't have that film.
It's on UA-cam in full.
Ah cool. In the middle of the Godzilla reviews right now so it'll be a while.
As to slapping a kid in public schools,I can say that it was very rarely done. It's not done in basic military training,why would it be done at middle school ? But we did receive our thrashing in our own homes. In the USA anyway.
Yorkshire has changed an awful lot since then, but some things are still the same. It's a great place to live with very warm, down to earth people, who are noted for their cynical sense of humour. The surrounding countryside is spectacular, earning it the name 'Gods county', the Peak District in neighbouring Derbyshire is stunning and the second most visited national park on the planet after the Fiji Islands. Can be seen in the films The Princess Bride and The Wolfman.
This is an excellent film.
Very good review, only just seen it. I grew up in Barnsley(where it was filmed) in the 70’s and got punched a lot by the teachers (I did have a big mouth) but it was just part of growing up back then. Same as the police who did the same thing, the teachers weren’t bullies though I always got what was coming to me. Still a great film and book, hope it’s still part of the school curriculum.
the bottomline is that
BIlly is lonely as helll
this is one of the best films I have watched...
it's about loneliness and there is no way out of it
I just watched this movie, the football coach was so terrible it was hilarious. The brother was a psychopath. The English teacher who broke up the fight gave the movie a lot of hope. The ending was tragic of course. I watched this movie with subtitles, and the naturalistic acting was very enjoyable.
Agreed. Beautiful film. I would like to revisit it again real soon.
great review ...
the ending scene tells it all.. he buries his dream
he is doomed for life like that
My old teachers matched these teachers to a t ....some kids would run out of school with the threat of getting the cane or slipper ..
All the actors were just local people who had never acted before except 2 teachers. And yes it was socially acceptable for the teachers to beat, hit and bamboo cane you. my music teachers once threw a brass doorknob he kept in his drawer at me i ducked and it hit this lass behind me. Mr west our art teacher used to punch girls in the back of the head as well as boys then call you fat head. Ahhhhh the good old days i miss them.
Very good review mate. I’m born and bred in Barnsley where it was filmed and went straight down the pit from school, which was the done thing back then. One of my main problems with the film is the language and dialect. A lot of it was overdubbed in some releases and it takes away the true Barnsley accent. A couple of examples are; “you”, which is nearly always “thee”, “you will” is “thal or “thad”, depending on context, “light” is “leet”, “night “ is “neet ”, “right” is “reyt” and so on.
Barnsley, like a lot of Northern towns, was a bit of a craphole back then going through massive redevelopment. In fact a lot of the streets seen in the film have long since gone or have changed beyond recognition. A lot has changed though, there are now no pits, not much industry to speak of and, the main one for me, there seems to be no loyalty or sense of “being” among the people, possibly due to the mass influx of Eastern European immigrants in recent years. It certainly has little resemblance to the town I grew up in, which I find very sad.
Great vid. Give the Criterion Blu-ray a go it's a beauty.
My grandad loves this film also I’m from england
Its a pretty good film.
That was the system that I grow up in. 1960's London schools had nasty teachers. I was caned and hit by teachers a number of times. I remember seeing Kes in class at that time and thinking it was just like my school life. Without the coal mines.
For people in the UK it's a classic, 10/10
I really enjoyed it. I now have the criterion release and look forward to revisiting it.
Thanks.
The guy who played Billys gym teacher, Brian Glover, was an ex-pro wrestler, so those slaps must have hurt! Incidentally, you may remember him from Alien 3.
Also Glover had a memorable role in 'An American Werewolf in London'.
You should check out Dead Mans Shoes (2004) nought wrong. That's defo one English film to check out, one of the best films I've ever encountered. Nil by Mouth (1997) also being a classic along with Naked (1993). Just some recommendations. Great review though, especially as you come from America aswell.
Thanks for the suggestions. I will.
I'm from the UK. Believe me the teacher's were a lot more violent, physically and mentally. It became illegal to batter kids in around 1983/4.
It just amazes me that the kids were treated so bad. I really felt badly for those kids.
Went to school in the 70s in Birmingham. In the gym, I remember our sports teacher picking me up by the hair and screaming at me after I'd done something wrong. He also doubled up as a maths teacher. Never learnt a thing from him and my maths was really bad till my last year or two at school.
I appreciate the review you gave from your perspective on this movie.
Great review from someone overseas
it was a great emotional film. and very realistic. i had a teacher who was greek canadian, and he was a child in 1960s canada. in his perspective, he would be beaten by both the teacher and his father if he misbehaved in class, or skip school entirely. my parents also had this type of punishiment when they were children in the 1960s. it was common for teachers to beat thier students if they misbehaved. it became taboo some time around the 1990s. though surpsingly in some usa states, whipping children in schools is still legal.
That's pretty much how is was back then,
Yes they was, it was horrible being in school in the 70s 80s
Rita, sue and Bob too
Some more Brit films that you may also enjoy that don't re-enforce the myth that everyone in England is a loveable middle-class, Hugh Grant styled eccentric are....The revenge thriller by Shane Meadows-Dead Man's Shoes....Alan Clarkes 1979 borstal/prison film, Scum and the 1979 Gangster film The Long Good Friday....Kill List is also a good Brit Thriller/Horror film and you cant really go wrong with anything directed by Ken Loach..met the man and he's great!
Billy knows it is futile telling the Councillor about his interest in falconry as he won't be able to find a suitable role for him. His horizons are very limited.
I am from Yorkshire and grew up right by where Kes was filmed. Always been one of my favourite films. Teachers were like that and it was culturally acceptable to teach in that manner. Even after the cane was abolished, they would still give us the odd whack and my old gym teacher was identical to the teacher. Great review, check out the Barry Hines written film Threads, which i consider to be the ultimate horror film! Also set in Yorkshire. Search Threads HD on youtube..be warned its grim!
Ken Loach always made his films this way