Kes

Kes, the 1969 British working class drama, is still timeless to this day, with its phenomenal use of lighting and directing which is elevated by the acting. The film follows Billy a 15 year old boy stuck in a perpetual cycle of abuse, neglect, and stagnation. These elements hound from him every facet of his life, from his abusive older brother Jed, his lackadaisical mother, and tormenting school teachers. His fate seems to be resigned to working in the coal mines near his house, until a fateful hawk enters his life.

It is remarkable how the film uses lighting and camera-work to convey the thematic duel between freedom and oppression, limitation and desires. Every single interior shot is lit strictly by natural or outside lighting. The tone conveyed of most of the interior seems dark and gloomy, his own house, the school, his original workplace. But the outside offers a large spacious lifestyle wholly devoted to light and freedom; a last bastion of hope that Billy can ultimately strive for. This light slowly creeps in every interior shot, streaking its way until it illuminates the room and the inhabitants.  The outside world that Billy so wants  his Hawk, Kes, seems to single a more positive and literally bright outlook on his life.

Nevertheless the lighting isn’t the only impressive achievement of this film, but rather the camera work and framing, helps tell the story without any words. Towards the beginning of the tale most of the individuals Billy is at ends with, Jud, teachers, his boss, are shot separately, even though they share the same scene as Billy. The characters are fragmented and you already have the feeling of a hostile relationship between the elders and our protagonist. However, the first time we are ever introduced to a character that is older and seems to slowly respect and listen to what Billy has to say he is shown in the same frame, as they work side by side to see how they can deal with the hawks, inhabiting his land. The first instance of partnership and equality brought forth by Kes, which helps expand the world of Billy. The shots become larger and Billy’s interaction with the teachers becomes less fragmented and they start to share the same frame. Although this does not mean they are now in friendly terms, Billy is still being abused and maligned by these individuals, just now with Kes, he can see himself on the levels of the elders and allow himself to dream bigger possibilities.

This camerawork and use of framing is not only limited to the characters but however the landscape and buildings around him.  In an earlier shot before Billy discovers Kes, he is reading a comic book. The foreground is completely dominated by a large terrifying coal plant, the only fate that Billy refuses to acknowledge. The film rarely utilizes these large, establishing shots, most of the time the  iscamera work tight, in control, or stagnant.  In a sense, these shots are suffocating; the possibility of escape seems laughable. However when Kes is introduced and the shots of him flying are shown through various handheld shots, we see these transplanted in Billy’s representation. He runs through the streets, mimicking the same freestyle of the bird, the handheld capturing the rambunctious youth that he is. Ultimately, one of the last shots Kes  is in another rare landscape shot, this time larger; however the coal plant is never seen. Instead a massive field, with nature surrounding the boundaries with houses in the fringes.

The acting is authentic to the bone, David Bradley becomes the character of Billy. The outward lashing towards everyone, without understanding his own role in life, besides the refusal to work in the plants is remarkably relatable. His teachers never reach a state of melodramatic hope, but rather suspicion and disregard, until his English teacher Mister Farthing takes an interest. Although this interest is not contrived and only arrives when Billy himself conveys a passion  in falconry does Mister Farthing reciprocate and help nurture Billy’s new found love.

Another interesting item to note is the lack of music throughout the entire film.  Helping to add towards the realism, it is only interjected at major plot points in order to reinforce the severity of the incident. Although, this lack of music isn’t a bad thing, on the contrary, making the entire film devoid of music would have been an interesting and perhaps worthwhile addition.

Kes, arrives at a time where pupil and student revolt wasn’t a novel or revolutionary idea. The Vietnam student protests where raging in America and the student riots of 1968 in Paris where still burnt in the mind of Europeans. Kes, brings forth these rebellious ideas into the forefront, lashing out at stiffening and destructive authority, by introducing a literal natural element. The character of Kes, a hawk is organic and part of the real tangible earth, what Billy rejects his coal, industry, pollution, the opposite, and death of the environment around him. The film then could be read as an attack on the damaging qualities of capitalism and industry, not on the environment, but rather on the individual, society and our own human  progression. Regardless of the societal and political implication, Kes is a fascinating film that delves into British realism, to bring forth a truly moving and stunning picture in all sense of the word.