I’m from Yorkshire and, like all Yorkshire men and women, am very proud to be so (you may have encountered this probably not-unannoying phenomenon if you’re not yourself from Yorkshire). The county is known for the rugged beauty of its Dales in the north-west, and its Wolds and Moors in the north-east, though it is associated too, in the west and south, with a bleaker, more industrial landscape, where social deprivation and poverty has played its part. One such area provides the setting for Ken Loach’s 1969 film, the classic (and often very moving) “Yorkshire film”, Kes.
The film, adapted from Barry Hines’s novel A Kestrel for a Knave, follows Billy Casper, a sensitive and downtrodden 15-year-old from working-class Barnsley who finds solace in training a kestrel. It is a gentle drama about harsh circumstances, and I remember its impact: it was something of a sensation, and it won the young actor, David Bradley, a deserved BAFTA for his role.
Billy’s brother bullies him and his family neglects him. At school, most of his teachers ridicule and reject him, especially sadistic Mr Sugden (Brian Glover, with a bravura performance you’ll see below). Billy appears headed for a menial job with no future and consequently has no motivation and nothing to look forward to, until the day he finds a kestrel, a European falcon, which he befriends and cares for. He raises, nurtures, and trains the falcon, whom he calls “Kes”, and encouragement from one of his more sympathetic teachers (played admirably by Colin Welland) offers Billy hope.
The naturalism achieved in the film is testament to Loach’s directorial skills and his desire for authenticity. The schoolkids that he directs play their parts for real, with little apparent self-awareness. It often feels as if the viewer is watching via a hidden camera. Take this classic football match scene, below, wherein Mr Sugden bosses the kids boorishly (though, it has to be said, highly amusingly), eliciting much banter, rich with local jargon and accent, from kids on and off camera. It will perhaps prompt recollection of cold, muddy sports pitches from your own schooldays; it does me. However, it is a charming piece of social realism that you will enjoy even if you don’t catch every bit of dialogue!
