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      Wednesday's Child

      1971 1 hr. 45 min. Drama List
      80% 5 Reviews Tomatometer 87% 250+ Ratings Audience Score Janice (Sandy Ratcliff), a 19-year-old girl living in 1970s Britain, is not getting along with her old-fashioned parents. When she gets pregnant, her mother (Grace Cave) and father (Bill Dean) pressure her into getting an abortion. Emotionally shut out by her parents and unable to keep a job, Janice becomes suicidal and has a nervous breakdown. Her parents have her committed to a mental hospital, where she suffers devastating side effects from intense shock therapy. Read More Read Less

      Audience Reviews

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      Audience Member This early Ken Loach film (his third â" and the one that immediately followed his first big hit, Kes, 1969) shows him continuing in a social realist vein, detailing the often grim lives of the working class in Britain. In a style that echoes the concurrent documentaries by Frederick Wiseman or the Maysles, we observe interactions between members of a family in a tenement house and sometimes discussing their problems with a psychiatrist. Wiseman may be the better reference point because Loach holds similar concerns about the amount of control placed on individuals by institutions â" in this case, parents/family but also the psychiatric institution and society itself. The screenplay was by David Mercer from his play, In Two Minds. Sandy Ratcliff (who died this year, 2019) plays a 19-year-old-girl, living with her domineering parents. She is clearly a victim of the generation gap and when she falls pregnant to her open-minded boyfriend, her mother forces her to have an abortion. The resulting depression leads to much conflict at home and eventually her parents put her into a mental institution. Fortunately, her ward/group is run by a progressive Laingian who clearly believes that parental and societal control are to blame for Janice's problems; however, soon he is fired by the hospital and she is moved to a new ward and given drugs and shock therapy. And things only get worse from that point on. Some consider this film propaganda but despite the nonstop oppressive things that happen to Janice, this is a story that deserves to be told, even though it is over the top (or perhaps especially because it is over the top). Loach is polemical but still allows us to see the confusion of the parents, themselves the product of a different era and subjected to the same types of control that they now seek to impose. Obviously, it is a vicious cycle that keeps the working class in their place (in a factory or similar). You probably want to choose an appropriate time to expose yourself to this one. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/04/23 Full Review Audience Member Life of a Schizophrenic girl! Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/15/23 Full Review Audience Member Ken Loach's Family Life is a harrowing film which examines the Generational gap which exists between the older and the younger generations pertaining to morals, ambtiions, and pretty much just cultural in general. Somewhere in between a documentary and fiction, Loach's realist style really aids the film in delivering a frighteningly real, honest depiction of how a young woman's slow mental deterioration because of her authoritative parents. Being that the film was released in 1971, I imagine this is Loach's commentary on the 60's, but all of it is equally profound and valid in today's society. I literally found myself physically disgusted at times witnessing the unwillingness of this girl's parents to put themselves in their daughter's shoes and view the world outside of their pre-conceived notions of the world around them. Loach clearly identifies much more with the daughter in the film, and while the parents are shown in a rather vile way, it never becomes unnatural or overbearing--they really are just trying to do what is best for their daughter. The relationship between Control and Nurturing seemed to be the overall theme of the film and it's pulled off well. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/17/23 Full Review simon d This seems to be another film having a dig the NHS in the seventies.The story is a bit depressing but the performances were very good, very realistic dialogue. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member تقريبا أفضل فيلم شفته لـ لوتش Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/14/23 Full Review Audience Member I just finished watching this movie that was part of the Rosetta collection. It was a very emotionally-intense movie. Almost like "Girl, Interrupted" but British and crazier. I was only half paying attention to it, but it was a seriously draining movie. A lot of drama. I recommend it if you are into psychology and understanding teen girls, or just need a good cry. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/23/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Wednesday's Child

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      Critics Reviews

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      Jonathan Rosenbaum Chicago Reader Grim and harrowing. Feb 12, 2020 Full Review Variety Staff Variety Director Ken Loach has succeeded in creating a disturbing and provocative film. Feb 12, 2020 Full Review David Wilson Sight & Sound Family Life is a lot more 'real' than the overrated Kes; but a film which has prejudice as its theme doesn't gain from playing on the prejudices of its audience. Feb 12, 2020 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews Has something urgent to say. Rated: B Feb 26, 2005 Full Review Read all reviews

      Movie Info

      Synopsis Janice (Sandy Ratcliff), a 19-year-old girl living in 1970s Britain, is not getting along with her old-fashioned parents. When she gets pregnant, her mother (Grace Cave) and father (Bill Dean) pressure her into getting an abortion. Emotionally shut out by her parents and unable to keep a job, Janice becomes suicidal and has a nervous breakdown. Her parents have her committed to a mental hospital, where she suffers devastating side effects from intense shock therapy.
      Director
      Ken Loach
      Screenwriter
      David Mercer
      Production Co
      EMI Films, Kestrel Films
      Genre
      Drama
      Original Language
      English (United Kingdom)