Looks and Smiles (1981)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Ken Loach

Writers:

Barry Hines (novel)
Barry Hines (screenplay)

Release Date:

20 January 1983 (Australia)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Thatcherism and the Irish troubles provide the backdrop for this study of Mick, a well-meaning youth in Sheffield...

Plot Keywords:

Letter | British Youth | Unemployment | Job Interview | Shoe Store

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Graham Green	...	Michael 'Mick' Walsh
Carolyn Nicholson	...	Karen Lodge
Tony Pitts	...	Alan Wright
Roy Haywood	...	Phil
Phil Askham	...	Mr. Walsh
Pam Darrell	...	Mrs. Walsh
Tracey Goodlad	...	Julie
Patti Nicholls	...	Mrs. Wright
Cilla Mason	...	Mrs. Lodge
Les Hickin	...	George
Arthur Davies	...	Eric Lodge
Deirdre Costello	...	Jenny (as Deidre Costello)
Jackie Shinn	...	Gatekeeper
Christine Francis	...	Careers Officer
Rita May	...	Receptionist

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M

Company:

Kestrel Films

A battle to retain humanity in the desperation of 1980s Northern England

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

The low budget look and feel of this movie topped off by being shot in black and white gives a stark portrayal of the complete lack of opportunities for the young unemployed in the north of England in the early 1980s. This can be compared in some ways to "Love on the Dole", but it is even less romanticised in the way it deals with the curse of mass unemployment and the corrosive effects it has on a society that doesn't deserve it.

Two lads drift along in between signing on trying their best to retain their self respect and stay within the law. One of the lads decides his only way out is to join the army whereupon he is sent over to Northern Ireland. On returning home on leave, he exhibits the signs of having been brutalised by the experience as he talks with apparent relish about the savage treatment meted out by British soldiers during raids in Roman Catholic areas.

The other lad, Mick meanwhile has met a girl who despite having a job (in a shop), is troubled due to her parents having split up and her having arguments with her stressed out mother. When the girl decides to run away to see her father who now lives in Bristol, Mick decides to go with her. However, her father is now living with another woman and simply tells his daughter that she cannot stay with him.

On returning north, there is nothing new or different for Mick. The atmosphere of hopelessness is excellently captured along with the efforts the young characters make to rise above it. The result is what it sets out to be, namely a bleak allegory on the effects of economic recession and harsh government policies on people with no control over such things and little hope of escape other than being starved in to the armed forces in the same way that occurred before both of the world wars.