Ken Loach

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Birthday:

17 June 1936, Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England, UK

Birth Name:

Kenneth Loach

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). But 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! Show less «

I turned down the OBE because it's not a club you want to join when you look at the villains who've got it. It's all the things I think are ...Show more »

I turned down the OBE because it's not a club you want to join when you look at the villains who've got it. It's all the things I think are despicable: patronage, deferring to the monarchy and the name of the British Empire, which is a monument of exploitation and conquest. Show less «

Stalin has caused Socialism greater damage than anyone else.

Why do they say I hate my country? And what does that even mean? Am I supposed to hate my town, am I supposed to hate all English people, or...Show more »

Why do they say I hate my country? And what does that even mean? Am I supposed to hate my town, am I supposed to hate all English people, or my government? And if I do hate my government, does that mean I hate my country? It's a democratic duty to criticize the government. Show less «

A movie isn't a political movement, a party or even an article. It's just a film. At best it can add its voice to public outrage.

I think our TV news editors are still sometimes using the language of government propaganda. We still hear the term 'war on terror' for an i...Show more »

I think our TV news editors are still sometimes using the language of government propaganda. We still hear the term 'war on terror' for an illegal war. We're still hearing the words reform and modernization when what we really mean is privatization and public greed. Show less «

In '45 we had probably the best reforming government we've had, in the Attlee (Clement Attlee) government. It was still a social democrat go...Show more »

In '45 we had probably the best reforming government we've had, in the Attlee (Clement Attlee) government. It was still a social democrat government, it wasn't a socialist government, but the consciousness of people was that we were a collective and we were stronger together than as individuals. And obviously out of that came the health service and public ownership of utilities and transport and a sense of collective endeavour. People had made that sacrifice to win the war, so there was a general sense that things would get better from there. The consciousness was: we've achieved things and we have things that will never be taken away from us, like the health service, like public ownership of the mines, of the transport, of the gas, electric - it was ours. And now, that's gone, we've just given it away... Allowed politicians to give it to their friends. And the cult of the individual, from '79 onwards, which New Labour has followed and which dominated the party, has just killed that. So the consciousness now is not: "How can we work together?" It's: "How can I get on, at the expense of you?" So that's pretty horrible. Show less «

[on his film Jimmy's Hall (2014)] We not only shot on film, we cut on film. It's very good because it's not as quick as digital cutting, so ...Show more »

[on his film Jimmy's Hall (2014)] We not only shot on film, we cut on film. It's very good because it's not as quick as digital cutting, so you consider what you do more carefully. It's a much more human way of working. The film industry is like any other - it's about speed and cutting the people doing the job. We're going to carry on, cutting on film. Show less «

If films were to have a big influence, it would probably be very negative because they would probably endorse great wealth. They would endor...Show more »

If films were to have a big influence, it would probably be very negative because they would probably endorse great wealth. They would endorse America as the home of peace and democracy and the defender of freedom. Show less «

Traditionally when young people were growing up, they were introduced into the adult world through work. They don't have that now. I think i...Show more »

Traditionally when young people were growing up, they were introduced into the adult world through work. They don't have that now. I think it's surprising [rioting] hasn't happened before. Show less «

Britishness was about empire, Britishness was about slavery, oppression, hence the Butcher's Apron. Britishness has a long legacy which we w...Show more »

Britishness was about empire, Britishness was about slavery, oppression, hence the Butcher's Apron. Britishness has a long legacy which we want to disown. Show less «

[on De Sica's Ladri di biciclette (1948) and the influence of Italian Neorealism] Those were a group of films we absorbed when we were young...Show more »

[on De Sica's Ladri di biciclette (1948) and the influence of Italian Neorealism] Those were a group of films we absorbed when we were young. and have stayed as a benchmark. You have it in the back of your mind but nothing more than that. Show less «

[on his threat to retire after Jimmy's Hall (2014)] It was at the moment of maximum pressure, just before we started to shoot. And I just sa...Show more »

[on his threat to retire after Jimmy's Hall (2014)] It was at the moment of maximum pressure, just before we started to shoot. And I just said "I can't do this any more". I was away quite a long time on this one, and it was a large undertaking - a period film with a big cast. I was reaching the point where I just wasn't sure that I could carry it off any more. But that was at the start of production. Of course, by the time you get to the end you feel rather less daunted by it. Show less «

What I've always tried to do is just to capture the truth of the moment. Preparation is really important for actors; they need to know who t...Show more »

What I've always tried to do is just to capture the truth of the moment. Preparation is really important for actors; they need to know who they are, where they're from, and the experiences up to the point that we make the film. We use improvisations, research, and so on. But when there's a surprise, that's the hardest thing to act. Even with brilliant actors, you'll get it once but the second time it's more difficult. For example, in Jimmy's Hall (2014), there's a scene where there's a group of women singing a song, and the Free State army bursts in. Well, obviously we didn't tell them they were going to burst in. So that shock is real. And it's very interesting; one woman registers it with a little involuntary jump, but she doesn't turn round to look immediately. Well, by the second take of course people know it's coming, so you don't get that. Show less «