1987, love in time of war. Bus driver George Lennox meets Carla, a Nicaraguan exile living a precarious, profoundly-sad life in Glasgow. Her back is scarred, her boyfriend missing, her famil... Read all1987, love in time of war. Bus driver George Lennox meets Carla, a Nicaraguan exile living a precarious, profoundly-sad life in Glasgow. Her back is scarred, her boyfriend missing, her family dispersed; she's suicidal. George takes her to Nicaragua to find out what has happened t... Read all1987, love in time of war. Bus driver George Lennox meets Carla, a Nicaraguan exile living a precarious, profoundly-sad life in Glasgow. Her back is scarred, her boyfriend missing, her family dispersed; she's suicidal. George takes her to Nicaragua to find out what has happened to them and help her face her past.
- Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
- 4 wins & 4 nominations total
- Victor
- (as Subash Sing Pall)
- Warden
- (as Ann-Marie Timoney)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaRobert Carlyle learned to drive a bus for his part in the film.
- GoofsAlthough set in the mid-80s, many of the cars in the background of the Glasgow scenes are newer models dating from the film's mid-90s shooting period.
- Quotes
George Lennox: So er... what did you do?
Bradley: CIA, Tegucigalpa, '81 to '84, Honduras. You?
George Lennox: Bus driver, double-decker, number 72, Glasgow
[impish smile]
- Alternate versionsAlthough he always had final cut, director Ken Loach revisited the film for its 2005 DVD release and shortened it by approximately 15 minutes. Much of the removed material can be found on subsequent releases as deleted scenes. The original cinema release had a running time of 125 mins 30 seconds at 24fps. The UK PAL VHS release ran slightly faster at 25fps, giving a running time of 120 mins 10 seconds. The shorter 2005 cut runs to 106 mins 3 seconds on PAL 25fps DVD.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The Movie Show: Episode dated 30 April 1997 (1997)
A hard sell back in 1996 when it was released, not many people paid to see this and in a way it is still a hard sell now, perhaps appealing most to those who will always make the effort to see Ken Loach's work. The reason that it perhaps failed to grab an audience is that the film itself isn't sure what it is trying to do and as a result is a bit fragmented and split. The film opens in a faltering way and it didn't convince me in how quickly it brought along George and Carla in the first stages. After this their relationship is a bit more convincing as it is brought on naturally as trust grows. At this stage Nicaragua is part of her character rather than the whole story. Gradually then suddenly the film becomes more about Nicaragua and George & Carla's relationship becomes the device to get him (the audience's eyes) into the country to learn all about it. I felt a bit like my interest in the people had been thrown out the window, and the vague attempt to make it about them towards the end didn't convince me. Loach directs with earnestness but he cannot make this work as either a political education or a character piece; varying wildly between being preachy and being touching.
The cast try hard to find this middle ground and to their credit they do pretty well. Carlyle does well to bring out a real person in George, covering up the question marks early on. He is left a bit high and dry in the second half but does his best. The same could be said of Carla, who is a person in the first half and a journey in the second. Cabezas delivers the role as well as she can and is natural and convincing throughout. Glenn has an obvious role but he is a good presence. The rest of the support cast is solid enough but the problems is with the material, not with any of the cast.
Overall then a fairly mixed affair that is as affecting as it is preachy. Easy to see why it failed to get much of an audience as it makes for an uneasy mix of ideas that don't really come off failing to educate much more than on a superficial level and failing to produce a real character piece (that would have been better).
- bob the moo
- Aug 3, 2006
- How long is Carla's Song?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $25,845
- Gross worldwide
- $25,845
- Runtime2 hours 7 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1