90 years of the working class taken to heaven
The British director depicted the living conditions of the less well-off and the problems and contradictions of a globalised society,
Key points
The working class won’t go to heaven, but at least Ken Loach has paid tribute to them with devotion and mastery. On 17 June, the English director turned ninety and kept his word about ending his directing career with *i* *Old Oak* , released in 2024, because his legs can no longer keep him on his feet on set. Born on 17 June 1946 in Nuneaton, in Shakespeare’s home county, he grew up in a working-class family of miners in the Midlands. His earliest memories are of the air-raid shelters where children would swap shrapnel from exploded bombs whilst waiting for the bombing to end. He recounts the story of peace and rebirth in The Spirit of ’45, a documentary pieced together from archive footage, in which Loach explains the ethos of public service and the welfare state built by the Labour Party. Thanks to that social mobility, Loach was able to graduate with a law degree from St Peter’s College, Oxford, and, ever since, he has remained a staunch supporter of that vision of Labour which he feels has been betrayed by the party’s current leadership.
The Responsibilities of Capitalism
His films, written with his collaborator and friend Paul Laverty, highlight capitalism’s role in enabling the ruling class to ruthlessly pursue profit, destroying the planet and condemning the less well-off to poverty and unhappiness. Today, he continues to demand collective ownership of the knowledge held by technocrats. His latest film, Old Oak, which was screened at Cannes like many of his films, is a melancholic realisation of the inability of the most vulnerable sections of society to cope with an ever-rising cost of living and to remain united in the face of politics that stirs up the spectre of the predatory foreigner.
Films that stand alongside the working class
Loach has won two Palmes d’Or on the Croisette: I, Daniel Blake (2016) and The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006). His entire extraordinary filmography has been dedicated to depicting the living conditions of the less well-off and the problems and contradictions of globalised society, such as Riff Raff (1991), Stones Falling from the Sky (1993), Land and Freedom (1995), Bread and Roses (2000), and The Angels’ Share (2012). The writer was particularly taken with Sorry We Missed You (2019), which explores the relentless pace at which postal couriers are forced to work, and In This Free World... (2007), which explores the younger generations in economically disadvantaged countries, forced to move to wealthy nations, thereby depriving their homeland of the future’s brightest minds.
Between Bears and Lions, the Oscar is missing
He received the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in 1994, the Honorary Pardo in 2003, and the Golden Bear for Lifetime Achievement in 2014. No Oscars: let’s hope Hollywood makes amends. Loach lives in Bath, Somerset, with his wife Lesley, with whom he has four children. Their understated presence on the red carpet, amidst a sea of eccentric, glittering figures, was unforgettable. Before receiving the Palme d’Or for *I, Daniel Blake*, Ken and Lesley were caught by a mischievous gust of wind on the red carpet, which had blown Ken’s hairpiece askew and billowed Lesley’s very British floral skirt, much to their amusement.
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