KES - Written and Filmed in Yorkshire.

I love 'real' films. Ones that tell a human and perhaps, relatable story using a well-crafted script, believable acting and beautiful cinematography to weave its magic and engross the viewer in the tale that's being laid out before them.

As such, this makes choosing an English film for the OCD Community Boost Contest No.5 quite easy although the post will crossover slightly between questions 1 and 2.

I'm not against special effects and CGI in modern movies but I just prefer reality, or at least fiction having a foothold of truth and possibility and so the movie I have chosen to highlight is one of my all-time favourites and one that I revisit every few years, simply to wallow in memories and reminisce my younger years.

The film is the 1969 classic, that always appears in any published list of the greatest ever British films and is, of course, Kes.

The movie is based on a 1968 novel entitled "A Kestral for a Knave", written by Yorkshire novelist Barry Hines and is set in my back yard in an unspecified location in Northern England. Without ruining the plot of either book or film, it simply tells the story of a troubled young lad named Billy who comes from a working-class background and who takes a young Kestral who he calls Kes from its nest and using a book stolen from the local library, trains the bird and learns the art of falconry.

The book and the subsequent film were a staple of the high school English curriculum in the 1980s and that's where I first came across it. Of course, it had more relevance to me as it is based in the area in which we lived and I suppose I could find certain parallels between myself and Billy.

David Bradley as Billy with one of two Kestrels used during filming (Photo courtesy of the BFI archive)

For me, the book came first. It was one of a number in a genre of locally set works of literature that I enjoyed at the time, especially as in my teens I developed my love for drama and acting and we had a plethora of great Yorkshire playwrights and authors. Just mention Bennet and Ayckbourn ( OK, adopted Yorkshireman!) and the passion and pride rise in any true Yorkshireman!

Back to the film though and it was directed by the great Ken Loach who directed so many seminal British movies, with the script co-written by the original author, Barry Hines.

The standout performance was by a teenage, first-time actor by the name of David Bradley, for which he won a BAFTA in the 'Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles' and there were strong performances by the rest of the cast who reads like a who's who of Yorkshire acting royalty. The accents were strong and needed to be as a pivotal theme of the film were its working-class, Yorkshire roots. This was further reinforced by the locations used for filming which were around Hoyland in Barnsley where Barry Hines had been born. Local dialect in movies adds grit and realism although what a non-English audience might have thought, I'm not too sure.

This is a perfect still from the film that captures the essence of both the time and location (Courtesy of Film Magazine)

The cinematography is sublime and the touching and sympathetic performances along with the tragic ending make this a genuinely memorable, coming of age, movie experience.

Perhaps it is because it is a coming-of-age movie, enjoyed by a younger version of myself that makes it resonate in my psyche but it's also because, as I mentioned earlier, I was developing a love of acting and theatre in my late teenage years. For that, I have to thank my drama teacher at school who helped me to develop my love of theatre and my acting skills which at one time could have led me down a whole different path in life had I so chosen.

We had many trips to provincial and regional theatres to see all manner of plays and adaptations, some of which went on to become movies or TV shows. I mentioned Billy Liar last week, but another that springs to mind include the stage version of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and other plays which later cropped up as BBC's Play for Today.

Mr Whiteley, as I've just discovered thanks to LinkedIn is still alive and kicking in his 80s and still adjudicating drama competitions around the country it seems!

Having just written this, I suddenly realised that we had a plethora of acting and writing talent in Yorkshire and many famous TV series and movies have been set there, sounds like another post for another day to me.

I would imagine that very few if any of you have seen Kes, but if you get a chance, watch it and tag me if you need any translations of the dialects! It's been rather a hotchpotch of a post but it's difficult writing about a movie and not giving anything away that might spoil it for a first time viewer or stealing someones already written classic metaphors!

The original movie trailer with the most inappropriate voiceover ever!

A few other recommended classic English movies to watch (that don't involve Hugh Grant!):-

Brassed Off - Another Yorkshire based, working-class movie about a brass band.
The Full Monty - Another Yorkshire based, working-class movie about a group of unemployed and rather unlikely male strippers.
Threads - Another Yorkshire based, working-class movie about a Yorkshire city that gets blown away by a nuclear bomb. Not too bad as it's Sheffield.
Little Voice - Another Yorkshire based, working-class movie about a telephone engineer who falls in love with a girl who does impressions.
God's Own Country - Another Yorkshire-based, working-class movie and our very own Yorkshire version of Brokeback Mountain which should have won an Oscar. It's a brilliant and touching love story.

I think we've got working-class movies covered in Yorkshire, along with tea and puddings!

That's it and there are many, many more. I am now quite proud I managed to regionalise the contest and gave myself a long playlist to remind me of home!

As always, a huge thanks to @acidyo, @ybanezkim26 and all the crew at @ocd for their support to the communities.

References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kes_(film)
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/kes
https://www2.bfi.org.uk/