In Conversation: Ken Loach (Sky Arts)

(Is it just me, or the first thing I noticed was the set; stylish because of its simplicity. It was fantastic that intensified continuity wasn’t being applied to the interview; a shameless crime of the BBC’s Culture Show)

By chance I uncovered In Conversation on SkyArts. My taste is more Ken Russell than Ken Loach, so I was surprised I gave it a look. It’s really got me thinking.

Something that intrigued me was that Loach argued that there is a different culture on the continent that surrounds cinema (more critical, academic and more appreciative; well, in relation to his own work). This is something agree with but as Loach compared this stance to British Cinema I feel he missed out the underlying issue.

Popular culture in the UK is influenced by the working class, while on the Europe popular culture is determined by the middle class (well what we see of it in the UK). This brings us to hegemony (dominant culture/dominant class) and the imposition of values.

Loach as a lower middle class 6th form student (later destined for Oxford) would naturally align himself to European film; reinstating his class values. Middle class cultural references would be different to working class cultural references. In cinema what would that be?

Historically working class cultural references would be Hollywood films, just look at the references in the ‘Carry On’ films, it’s also evident in the work of Ken Russell and Terrence Davies. The political nature of European cinema (especially Italian Neo-Realism) would influence middle class cultural references, just look at the British New Wave.

Arguably Kes does appeal to the working class, but maybe this is more to do with the material source, the novel by Barry Hines.

Loach imposes political statements onto his films, like the unrealistic plausibility of the narrative in Carla’s Song. Ok, there is a real issue there, but to artificially create or base a story around it does nothing for the verisimilitude.

Political statements/social issues should either be subversive or arise naturally from the text.

I think I need to go back and have a look at Bourdieu!

• The Values of SkyArts: Cultural Relativism

Who is SkyArts audience? The middle class, so who would Ken Loach appeal too?

Really, the same audience who watch BBC4 (though BBC4 does have a wider scope).

Shameless over Shakespeare (parity?); well early shameless (the first few series), before it became a parody of itself.

The major flaw of the programme, was that it wasn’t long enough. There is really is no outlets, apart from Radio 4, to hear an intelligent interview with those who shape our culture. As the BBC ever competes with the commercial stations, it seems the stuff that matters is relegated to a minority outlet. Or maybe the mass audience no longer has the attention span?