Riff-Raff (1991)

The story of Stevie, a construction worker, and his girlfriend, an unemployed pop singer, serves to show the living conditions of the British poor class

Director:

Ken Loach

Writer:

Bill Jesse (screenplay)

Stars:

Robert Carlyle, Emer McCourt, Jim R. Coleman

3 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert Carlyle	...	Stevie
Emer McCourt	...	Susan
Jim R. Coleman	...	Shem (as Jimmy Coleman)
George Moss	...	Mo
Ricky Tomlinson	...	Larry
David Finch	...	Kevin
Richard Belgrave	...	Kojo
Ade Sapara	...	Fiaman
Derek Young	...	Desmonde
Bill Moores	...	Smurph
Luke Kelly	...	Ken Jones
Gary Lammin	...	Mick (as Garrie J. Lammin)
Willie Ross	...	Gus Siddon
Dean Perry	...	Wilf
Dylan O'Mahony	...	Youth

Storyline

The story of Stevie, a construction worker, and his girlfriend, an unemployed pop singer, serves to show the living conditions of the British poor class

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Plot Keywords:

squatting | killing a rat | scaffold | singing audition | standing in the bath tub | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 February 1993 (USA)

Also Known As:

Lim-lom

Filming Locations:

Deaconess Court, Tottenham Green East, Tottenham, London, England, UK

Box Office

Gross USA:

$295,444

Company Credits

Production Co:

Parallax Pictures, Channel Four Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The accents of the characters was so heavy that the film provided subtitles, even for British audiences.

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Goofs

Between 7:56 and 8:00 minutes into the movie, as Robert Carlyle enters his squat for the first time, you can clearly see the boom under the ceiling and the boom operator on the left as Robert walks by.

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Quotes

Larry: Can anyone explain to me why someone's got to make a profit every time you boil a kettle, every time your kid has a drink of water or every time a pensioner has a warm by a gas fire?

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Connections

Referenced in Siskel & Ebert: Executive Decision/Ed/Two Much/The Star Maker/Land and Freedom (1996)

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Soundtracks

I'm So Excited
Composed by Trevor Lawrence (as T. Lawrence), Anita Pointer (as A. Pointer),
June Pointer (as J. Pointer) and Ruth Pointer (as R. Pointer)
Performed by The Pointer Sisters

User Reviews

A Truly Remarkable Film, ver close to home (literaly!)

I first saw this film, drunk one Friday after a heavy nights drinking after work on a building site. I was then a bricklayer - a job I had done for over five years. Watching this film, it dawned on me that this was filmed in the part of London where i lived. I could truly relate to it and I would have sworn that the actors had themselves spent their lives working on sites it was so realistic. Go to any site and you will see at least one character who you could say directly related to a charater in this film. The safety aspect has been cleaned up a lot now but back then, sites were a dangerous place to work. Accidents were common and the end scenes were not in any way unrealistic.

The thing that did it for me was the portrayal of the working class of Britain. The sentiments were all there, the humour, the desparation, the sense of wanting to rise above the rest and the shattered dreams. They are all here. I would say that if anyone from abroad wanted to study the character of the British working class then they MUST see this film. It is tough, gritty and full of humour...a truly remarkable piece of film that is sadly neglected.

Buy it, Rent it, Steal it, Borrow it...whatever you do SEE IT!