#148: Kes
Part of the Top 150 Films series
The best kitchen sink dramas offer a chance of escape, but only a chance. Be it through the working men’s club, a football match or training a kestrel, the characters in Kes are given these opportunities only for society to snatch them away. Despite impenetrable accents to anyone born more than 20 miles from its setting, a main character who fights sympathy with the audience and those around him at every turn, and muddy, coal-faced cinematography (as if Loach’s camera had emerged from t’ pit before shooting), Kes finds the humanity in every character and action, even if that humanity is constantly compromised. Managing the rare double feat of being both a vivid portrait of a blinkered community in intense denial about its future and a heartbreaking character study, Kes, and Kes, show us how hard it is to change our lives, but also the immense benefits if we succeed.
