The films of Ken Loach

Ken Loach is a director known for social realism. He has consistently explored social issues and told his stories in a highly naturalistic way.

Loach was born in Nuneaton, England on the 17th June 1936. His early childhood was lived out around the relocations demanded of his family by the onset of war. By the age of 25, he had completed two years of National Service in the Royal Air Force, going on to read law at Oxford. Here he involved himself with the University's drama group. Upon completing his course, he worked as an actor in repertory theatre.

He then trained as a television director before joining the BBC. He directed various early episodes of Z Cars before making his name in the Wednesday Play series. Most noteable of these was Cathy Come Home (1966), which dealt with the theme of homelessness.

His first feature film Poor Cow (1967) attempted to illuminate the mundane nature of ordinary lives as a young married woman falls into an adulterous affair as an escape from the drudgery of her domestic routine. He followed this with Kes (1969). It concerns the story of a boy who, facing little or no prospects in life, finds purpose in the activity of training of a bird.

Fatherland (1986), explored the differences and similarities between Eastern and Western European political systems. The thriller Hidden Agenda (1990), dealt with the role of the British forces in Northern.

Robert Carlyle played a builder in Riff Raff (1991), which looked at the lives of casually employed manual labourers. In Raining Stones (1993) strength of human spirit shone through, despite the hardships of life on a housing estate in the north of England. The 1994 film Ladybird Ladybird examined the plight of a woman living in fear of having her child taken away by the social services.

Loach has travelled to Spain and Nicaragua to pursue stories of social struggle with Land And Freedom (1995) and Carla's Song (1996) respectively. My Name Is Joe (1998) saw a return to the theme of working-class struggle with a tale of a relationship between an alcholic and a health worker in one of Glasgow's toughest neighbourhoods.

His first film in the US, Bread and Roses (2000) is about a group of South American immigrant janitors who protest in order to get union rights.

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