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      Scum

      R 1979 1h 36m Drama List
      89% 9 Reviews Tomatometer 91% 5,000+ Ratings Audience Score Perverse conditions within a British reform school reach a boiling point. Read More Read Less

      Audience Reviews

      View All (586) audience reviews
      matthew w Re Watched this again recently & it's safe to say it hasn't lost any of its grim brutality. Alan Clarke's controversial & disturbing take on the British borstal system in the seventies is a tough watch. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 11/30/23 Full Review Noah G Brutal and bleak film that shows the borstals to be a bit like Siberian prison camps. I enjoyed it. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 09/04/23 Full Review Audience Member Gripping, heartbreaking, and probably the grimmest thing I've seen since since Threads. Scum is a Tour de Force which deconstruct the punitive institutions of the state. Clarke does an awful lot with very little (I can't recall hearing a single piece of music in the film), and having also seen Penda's Fen recently it's fair to say I'm something of a convert to the guy. Some fantastic performances as well from the young actors, though I note that at 22 Winstone was a little older than his character! Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/16/23 Full Review charlie l You're not watching for the characters or the plot so much as the awful environment that makes the story what it is. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Alan Clarke's infamous portrayal of the borstal system forced a reevaluation of the structure on its release back in 1979. Banned on release, labeled repulsive and disgusting amongst other things, none of these accusations are unfounded, but they do miss the point somewhat. I consider myself pretty desensitised over many years of watching films, but I was shocked at the violence in Scum, in the best way possible. It's probably the best I've seen Ray Winstone, this his breakout role, and there's also a terrific performance from Mick Ford as the eccentric Archer. Despite the violence, I couldn't tear my eyes from Scum. It's far from just a video nasty, and it's certainly not just a shock picture. It's engrossing and harrowing, well performed, and wonderfully raw. It's lost absolutely none of the power it would have had on release in 1979, and if you can stomach some wince inducing violence, Scum is ninety minutes you won't regret. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/29/23 Full Review Audience Member British classic full with future legends. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/10/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Critics Reviews

      View All (9) Critics Reviews
      Justin Chang Los Angeles Times The visual equivalent of spare, brilliant prose that occasionally bleeds (and bleeds and bleeds) into poetry. Jul 6, 2017 Full Review Alan Scherstuhl Village Voice One of the great films about boys and violence ... Jun 14, 2017 Full Review Tanner Tafelski Kinoscope It's a film that hammers home the depravity of institutionalization... Nov 18, 2018 Full Review Ted Whitehead The Spectator Alan Clarke's direction is hard, clear and utterly uncompromising, and the performances of his largely unfamiliar cast are so authentic and convincing as to make one flinch. Feb 1, 2018 Full Review Mike Mazzanti The Film Stage Scum lives up to its title to this day, its manic energy balanced with an assured and naked openness that creates a searing level of realism and, as such, savagery. Rated: B Jun 14, 2017 Full Review Fernando F. Croce CinePassion Clarke's prison, like Losey's, crystallizes the societal rot on the outside Apr 1, 2010 Full Review Read all reviews

      Movie Info

      Synopsis Perverse conditions within a British reform school reach a boiling point.
      Director
      Alan Clarke
      Producer
      Don Boyd, Michael Relph
      Screenwriter
      Roy Minton
      Production Co
      Berwick Street Productions, Kendon Films
      Rating
      R
      Genre
      Drama
      Original Language
      English
      Release Date (DVD)
      Sep 7, 2004
      Box Office (Gross USA)
      $5.4K
      Runtime
      1h 36m