“It would be a privilege to come back.” We’d love to see it.
Aside from being powerful dramas that reflect the world in which we live in, there’s two aspects to Ken Loach’s films that’s rarely mentioned. Their empathy and timeless quality.
For over fifty years, the director has been concerned with telling stories of ordinary life and all its hardships, truths, and wonderful eccentricities.
In doing so, the filmmaker has won the Palme d’Or twice and while we don’t know the inner workings of Loach’s mind, we think he’d value the story of I, Daniel Blake being quoted in the House of Commons as a critique of the Tory’s austerity policies as something that’s just as important as winning Cannes.
That ability to make people feel like their story is heard and valued is at the heart of his new film, Sorry We Missed You. It’s also a large reason why The Wind That Shakes the Barley continues to be a firm favourite with Irish viewers, both young and old.
One man that’s instrumental to the work of Ken Loach is his longterm collaborator and screenwriter Paul Laverty. Their working relationship started with the release of Carla’s Song in 1997 and in the time since, they’ve made two films that are set in Ireland; The Wind That Shakes the Barley and Jimmy’s Hall.
During a recent chat with JOE, we had to ask Laverty if he was interested in completing this so-called ‘Irish trilogy?’
“I mean, well, it was fantastic working in Ireland. Great talent, massive contradictions wherever you look in terms of story, and great talent here. It was a joy to do both of those films, I can’t tell you just how much we really enjoyed it. So, who knows? You know, if you tempt fate by predicting the future! I don’t know but if we did, it would be a privilege to come back to do that.”
During the wide-ranging chat with Laverty, the award-winning writer was more than happy to discuss a multitude of topics including how the gig economy and zero hour contracts are ruining family life, why filmmakers don’t seem to be making dramas that reflect the times we live in, and his working process with Ken Loach.
Aside from this, the research that he put into writing The Wind That Shakes the Barley is fascinating.
“I felt an enormous responsibility, you know, to try and give it a good crack because I knew that we would only get one chance at it. I owe a great debt of gratitude to a wonderful historian, Donal Ó Drisceoil. He’s a great writer a great lad who wears his learning very easily. He helped us a lot in Jimmy’s Hall too. But you have to do the research yourself too but having Donal alongside – someone who got what we were trying to do – was very important.
“But you have to dive in and read the books because everything is conflicted and contested. Also, when it’s not your immediate experience, you just have to try and put yourself in those shoes. I went to the museums, read the poetry, talked to the children of the people in the flying columns, looked at the photographs, listened to the music.
“What was really key was actually walking in the ambush sites and seeing what it was like to go out walking during February and March in Cork. Jesus, you would be freezing. It was absolutely bloody freezing! But it was very good because I realised what it was like if you were on the run in this weather, trying to survive this British occupation. You’ve an army that’s chasing you and they’re looking out for you. I said ‘this is a young man’s game.'”
As for the latest film from Ken Loach and Paul Loach, Sorry We Missed You is released on 1 November.
Take a look at what’s in store.
Clip via Entertainment One UK
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