Versus: The Life and Films of Ken Loach

2016

1h 33m

Documentary

List

100%

16 Reviews

Tomatometer

84%

50+ Ratings

Audience Score

The life and work of the television and film director.

Read More

Read Less

john r

I don't like Ken loach but I really enjoyed this doc about him

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A very interesting documentary no matter what your political leanings.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/01/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Shot and sandwiched in-between I, Daniel Blake. His hatred of all things Tory is evident from the very start "bastards". Starts out during his early years as the son of right wing and Daily Mail loving father and at Oxford studying law. From the years ahead of its time Cathy Come Home up until the film that dragged out of retirement I, Daniel Blake. His films have always been socially relevant and important. Controversy has always followed him around and his banned documentaries about the miner strikes saw him black listed and unemployable during the best part of the 1980's. The play Predition about Zionist and Nazi collaboration during WWII in Hungary added further damage to his career leading him to experience further humiliation by making commercials for Nestle, Carmarc and regrettably McDonald's to survive. His first film for 12 years Hidden Agenda courted further controversy with the right wing rags calling it the IRA entry into Cannes Film Festival. The rest is history and he has been prolific for the last quarter of a century. With Brexit and further unemployment and social injustice hitting working class communities let's hope he doesn't hang up his directors chair just yet. What a remarkable human being.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/20/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Very predictable fare here. All the usual cliches, and they barely cover Loach's back-catalogue.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

02/25/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Measured, superbly edited overview of Ken Loach's career. Even those closest to him, such as producer Tony Garnett, admit he can be merciless if crossed. And who knew that at the beginning of his career he was a rather indifferent supporting actor and Tory supporter? His children talk of his love of musicals. And then there is the unspoken grief of losing his young son in a motorway accident. A complex and contradictory man.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/27/23

Full Review

Audience Member

http://cinephilecrocodile.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/versus-life-and-films-of-ken-loach-dir.html

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/24/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Post a rating

Louise Osmond

Director

Ken Loach

Self

Lesley Ashton

Self

David Bradley

Self

Melvyn Bragg

Self

Gabriel Byrne

Self

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

90%

88%

Llyn Foulkes One Man Band

89%

55%

What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael

96%

96%

Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché

TRAILER

for Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché

100%

84%

King Cohen: The Wild World of Filmmaker Larry Cohen

TRAILER

for King Cohen: The Wild World of Filmmaker Larry Cohen

80%

87%

That Guy Dick Miller

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

British Independent Film Winners Announced: God’s Own Country Wins Best Film

British Independent Film Nominations Announced: Lady Macbeth Dominates with 15 Noms

British Independent 2016 Winners Announced: American Honey Tops, Moonlight is Best International Film

View more photos

Tara Brady

Irish Times

Talk about good timing. Having just scored the Palme d'Or at Cannes for I, Daniel Blake - he also won it in 2006 for The Wind that Shakes the Barley - Ken Loach receives the documentary treatment with this very fine overview of a chequered career.

Aug 10, 2016

Full Review

Jimi Famurewa

Empire Magazine

A favourable but hugely illuminating portrait of a contradictory man - polite, principled, ruthless - who is still influencing cinema today.

Rated: 3/5

Jun 5, 2016

Full Review

Wendy Ide

Observer (UK)

This is a fitting tribute to a director who has made a career out of telling the stories that most urgently need to be told.

Rated: 4/5

Jun 5, 2016

Full Review

Kevin Harley

Total Film

The director's early days are thoroughly detailed here; if his later career is rushed over, an impressive trawl of talking heads (Gabriel Byrne, Cillian Murphy) keeps thing lively.

Rated: 4/5

Jan 2, 2017

Full Review

Edward Porter

Sunday Times (UK)

Ken Loach's recent Palme d'Or winner, I, Daniel Blake, has no British release date as yet, but his fans can turn instead to Louise Osmond's documentary Versus, a film that definitely shares their Loach love.

Rated: 3/5

Dec 19, 2016

Full Review

Adrian Mack

Georgia Straight

This doc more than satisfies as a look back at Loach's pioneering work as a kitchen-sink social realist with films like Poor Cow and Kes, while inevitably uncovering the man's internal contradictions.

Oct 11, 2016

Full Review

Read all reviews

Synopsis

The life and work of the television and film director.

Director: Louise Osmond
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Runtime: 1h 33m