KES

UK, 1970, 114 minutes, Colour.
David Bradley.
Directed by Kenneth Loach.

Kes is impressive. Kenneth Loach has captured a way of life with such sympathy and sense of evocative detail that his story of an under-sized boy, his slatternly mother, flashy brother, his life at school and his training of a kestrel, goes straight home to its audience. This is so real that if we find ourselves and others in similar situations, what are we going to do about it? The film says we must be sensitive to people, especially young people, because underneath what we
might dislike, there is a person who can be someone if he has the chance. Recommended.

1. The title of the novel was A kestrel for a Knave. Would this have been a better title for the film? Why? (Its focus on the kestrel and also on Billy?)

2. Where was the principal focus of the film? On Billy? On the kestrel? How was the kestrel a symbol of Billy himself? Develop the theme of the kestrel as a wild bird, being tamed, being fed by someone who loved him, being trained. How ironic is this symbolism insofar as the kestrel was killed by Jud? What is important, then, about Billy's relationship to Jud? Check the relevance of the scripture quotation from Matthew 18 about the little children and the rejoicing about the one lost sheep.

3. How important is the physical setting of this film? How well is it communicated? Consider the following: the town of Barnsley itself; the look at it; its grimness; the history of the town in the recent decades; the work atmosphere; the mines and the factories; the contrast between the factories and the forest and the old ruin; the background of the houses and of homes; the marriages within this environment; the Saturday night out; the entertainment, the songs sung, Honey and Oh! What a Beauty. How important are all of these for understanding the Caspar family and Billy?

4. How well did the film communicate the education environment? Compulsory schooling; the contrast between modern school and the old one; the headmaster; the assembly; the world of sport (how well was this handled? too long?); the coach and his attitudes towards the boys; Billy's clothes; the boy sent off the field; the English class; the maths class (its relevance to Billy?) ; the career guidance interview (the implications of work after school?); the ambitions Billy had (in view of his education?). Contrast Billy's enthusiasm about Kes and his training of the bird with his education.

5. How typical is Billy of this environment? He is shown as a sympathetic boy, pathetic, warm, interested, playful, a day-dreamer. He is clearly presented as a victim. (Of whom? Of what? Consider his paperwork, his stealing the milk, his being in trouble., his stealing the book on falconry.) What is your response to his sense of right and wrong? Consider his relationship with his mother, his absent father; his fights on his parents' behalf; his relationship with Jud (see the opening sequences, his serving of Jud, his forgetting the money at the TAB, the final fight).

6. What kind of man is Jud? He is a product of the same environment. Will Billy become like Jud? What quality is there in Jud's life? (note his conversation about himself on the Saturday night out.)

7. Comment on the mother in this environment. (Her love for her children; the absent husband; her ambitions; the boyfriend; the declarations about herself on the Saturday night out; her role at the end as regards the death of Kes).

8. Are the impressions the film creates of the teachers biased? Are they generally too bad? (Consider the headmaster, his speeches, the use of the cane, his role in the school and town for thirty years, the sports coach and his showing off, tripping boys, sending them off, his brutality in the shower incident.)

9. How attractive a person is Mr. Farthing? How did Billy respond to him? What future for friendship is there?

10. How clear a picture of growing-up does the film give? Is Billy's experience typical of growii2g-up? What does Billy learn? Would he be disillusioned? Would he resign himself to being very average?

11. The film is set in England, in Yorkshire. How universal is its message about people in their environment; about basic human needs; about growing up?

12. What kind of a future do you think Billy Caspar has?

13. How well does the film use its technical devices for communicating its message? (is it too preachy; message-laden? Or does it integrate message with story?) How effective is its documentary style, its realism the authentic conversation and town sequences, the sequences with the comic strip, the TV overtones of the football sequences?