Looks and Smiles
| Looks and Smiles | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Ken Loach |
| Produced by |
Raymond Day Irving Teitelbaum |
| Written by | Barry Hines |
| Starring | Graham Green |
| Cinematography | Chris Menges |
| Edited by | Stephen Singleton |
Release dates | 12 September 1981 |
Running time | 104 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Looks and Smiles is a 1981 British drama film directed by Ken Loach. It is based on the novel of the same name, written by Barry Hines. The film was entered into the 1981 Cannes Film Festival, where Loach won the Young Cinema Award.[1]
The film was shot in black-and-white entirely on location in Sheffield.[2] There is some Yorkshire dialect in the film, although not as much as in previous Loach-Hines collaborations such as Kes and The Price of Coal.
Ken Loach considered the film a failure and turned to making documentaries for several years afterwards,[3] saying that the film failed to "create the outrage in the audience that should have been there".[4] He also considered it "the end of an era" as he avoided long camera shots in subsequent films.[4] A 2016 Guardian article wrote, "Even the most devoted fan found 1981’s Looks & Smiles painfully miserable".[5]
Plot
A disadvantaged young man tries to get by in Margaret Thatcher's England. Writing in his book The Cinema of Ken Loach, Jacob Leigh comments: "Looks and Smiles reveals the depression people felt in the industrial North of England in the 1980s; but it is as depressing as Mick's life. ... Loach's characteristic attention to detail renders the film a period piece."[2]
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
References
- ↑ "Festival de Cannes: Looks and Smiles". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2009-05-31.
- 1 2 Leigh, Jacob (2002), The Cinema of Ken Loach: Art in the Service of the People, Wallflower Press, ISBN 978-1903-36432-1, p.130
- ↑ Leigh, Jacob (2002), The Cinema of Ken Loach: Art in the Service of the People, Wallflower Press, ISBN 978-1903-36432-1, p.142
- 1 2 Leigh, Jacob (2002), The Cinema of Ken Loach: Art in the Service of the People, Wallflower Press, ISBN 978-1903-36432-1, p.118
- ↑ Hattenstone, Simon (15 October 2016). "Ken Loach: 'If you're not angry, what kind of person are you?'". The Guardian. UK. Retrieved 23 November 2016.