Loach’s film is resolutely British. For all that Loach positions himself as being on the margins of the film industry, his narrative models tend towards the conservative. A young man goes to Spain on a coming-of-age journey. He has to overcome obstacles. He gets rewards. He obeys the beats, before returning to Liverpool, where he will die fifty years later, in a framing device that offers no insight into how his Spanish experiences changed him or those he loved. Like Orwell, whose book is clearly an influence, much of the narrative and tragic dimension of the film is taken up by the conflict between the anarchists and the communists on the republican side. Whilst this was clearly of note, the enemy in the Spanish Civil War really wasn’t Stalin, no matter whether his actions caused more harm than good. Without denying this element of the history, it seems a very British perspective to focus on the rifts within the movement. The film could undoubtably be read as an allegory for the travails of the Labour Party, which seems slightly beside the point. There is one famous lengthy scene of a discussion in a village about how to proceed, whether to collectivise the village agriculture or not. Whilst this scene is intriguing and perhaps inspired by Watkins, what it really does is highlight how the film, with its more sentimental approach to the narrative, dances around the edges of the theoretical, political issues, including the scene as a kind of sub-clause, an extended footnote. Again, this feels like the take of a deeply British sensibility, where serious things need to be kept at arm’s length. Loach handles the action sequences with surprising agility. The acting is committed, and it’s notable that at least two of the cast went on to have impressive careers behind the camera. It’s a solid, worthy piece of filmmaking that nevertheless never really threatens to catch fire and burn the house down.
No comments:
Post a Comment