Kes (1969)

Billy Casper comes from the poorest end of town (Barnsley, England), he can't concentrate at school and does very badly... (imdb)
Cast and Information
Directed By: Ken Loach
Written By: Ken Loach, Tony Garnett, Barry Hines
Starring: Brian Glover, Colin Welland, David Bradley, Harry Markham, Bernard Atha, Bill Dean, Ted Carroll, Geoffrey Banks, Freddie Fletcher, Lynne Perrie, Bob Bowes, Joey Kaye
Genre: Drama
Country: UK
Where to Stream
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Kes belongs to 69 collections
1. 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (collaborative: moderated by kozan26 - 234 stars)
2. Criterion Collection (collaborative: moderated by caffe - 167 stars)
3. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2008 revision) (collaborative: moderated by Scottathon - 39 stars)
4. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2010 revision) (collaborative: moderated by MMAlpha - 32 stars)
5. The Guardian's 1000 films to see before you die (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 30 stars)
6. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2014 revision) (collaborative: moderated by Jehan - 27 stars)
7. Best of criticker: Top 250 (collaborative: moderated by avgcrtckr - 26 stars)
8. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2012 revision) (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 25 stars)
9. AAA: Empire's five star movies (collaborative: moderated by KasperL - 24 stars)
10. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2017 revision) (collaborative: moderated by iconogassed - 22 stars)
11. Criterion Collection (Blu-ray) (collaborative: moderated by epiphany - 20 stars)
12. The Story of Film: An Odyssey (collaborative: moderated by rant1229 - 20 stars)
13. They Shoot Pictures' Recommended Viewing (collaborative: moderated by Cinephile - 19 stars)
14. Best of criticker: Drama (collaborative: moderated by avgcrtckr - 18 stars)
15. Edgar Wright 1000 Favorite Movies (Aug 2016) (collaborative: moderated by Aron Ericson - 17 stars)
16. Coming Of Age (collaborative - 16 stars)
17. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2013 revision) (collaborative: moderated by rant1229 - 16 stars)
18. Best film of top directors (collaborative: moderated by avgcrtckr - 15 stars)
19. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2011 revision) (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 14 stars)
20. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2020 revision) (public: djross - 14 stars)
21. Sight and Sound 2012 (collaborative: moderated by DavidB - 13 stars)
22. films101.com's 5 star films (collaborative: moderated by ppinocchio - 11 stars)
23. Criticker top 250 (collaborative: moderated by avgcrtckr - 11 stars)
24. The Bfi 100 (collaborative: moderated by nexus - 8 stars)
25. Children in lead role (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 8 stars)
26. Sight & Sound 2012 Directors' Top 100 Greatest Films of All Time (public: Whyte Nite - 7 stars)
27. TSPDT Top 200 Directors: Best Film (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 6 stars)
28. Ekşi Sinema "Alternatif" Top 250 (collaborative - 6 stars)
29. Best by different standards (public: sesito71 - 6 stars)
30. Revolutionary Films (public: ABUNCHOFCATS - 5 stars)
31. British New Wave (collaborative: moderated by nexus - 4 stars)
32. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2007 revision) (collaborative: moderated by Scottathon - 4 stars)
33. BFI list of the 50 films you should see by the age of 14 (collaborative: moderated by Thegoodboy - 4 stars)
34. Average Percentile >70 (collaborative: moderated by peyrin - 4 stars)
35. Animal (collaborative - 3 stars)
36. TimeOut Magazine's 100 best British films (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 3 stars)
37. British Classic Films with good ratings (pre-70s) (collaborative: moderated by 90sCoffee - 3 stars)
38. The 100 Greatest Films of All Time according to BFI's Sight and Sound (2022 edition, directors) (collaborative: moderated by djross - 3 stars)
39. Criterion Collection (Blu-ray and 4K) (public: PepeCamello - 3 stars)
40. List: Empire's 100 Best British Films (collaborative: moderated by KasperL - 2 stars)
41. Sight and Sound 2002 (Single Vote) (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 1 star)
42. NBR Top 10 Films (collaborative: moderated by xacviant - 1 star)
43. Watch with Max (collaborative: moderated by Vinicolette - 1 star)
44. Halliwell's Four Star Films (collaborative: moderated by MacSwell - 1 star)
45. British director (collaborative: moderated by iconogassed - 1 star)
46. gork movies to get (public: gork - 1 star)
47. Coheed's Celluloid Pit (public: Coheed - 1 star)
48. Cinetheque (public: allegreller - 1 star)
49. Leaving Criterion Channel 1/31/20 (public: kubricksucks - 1 star)
50. The Greatest Movies of All Time - Filmweb's Alternative Top 500 (public: Hadleyreis - 1 star)
51. Stiff Upper Lip: rateyourmusic.com's Top 20 British film builder results (collaborative)
52. Derek Malcolm's Century of Films (collaborative: moderated by MMAlpha)
53. Dysfunctional Family Heaven (collaborative: moderated by indiefan94)
54. Education related Movies (collaborative: moderated by Bunyas)
55. Age of Aquarius (collaborative: moderated by davidysteph)
56. 1001 Movies You Must See (and I have) (public: donkeyjelly)
57. Filmspotting Ratings Project: Week 3 (public: PeaceAnarchy)
58. Top 101 (public: losrasputin)
59. A Story of Children and Film (2013) (public: Ag0stoMesmer)
60. Barry Norman's top 49 British films (public: juandr)
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62. Sight and Sound 2012 - Combined list - Part II (public: Ariaz)
63. Movies Watched 2018 (public: ForrestQ)
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68. DoObejrzenia (public: peeroog)
69. on PLEX (public: ozdemibr)
Browse the full list of collections
Stars | User | Rating | |
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Moribunny | 93 98th |
Perhaps more than anyone, ever, Loach can really bring cinema down to earth. As far as I'm concerned, Kes is everything that Truffaut's 400 Blows is wrongfully hailed as: A deeply moving socially realistic story about a miserable child.
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Kojiless | 88 90th |
Made me want to he a better father. And teach my son British dialects. But mostly the first one.
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Difontaine | 78 74th |
About the bleakest ending to a film ever. The perfect antidote to all the feel good plucky underdog rom-com bollocks perpertrated on the British public.
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JooJoo | 6 95th |
One of the rare pleasures of a child performance [in lead, no less] being not only suitable, but the driving force of a movie. Loach has a way of capturing moments not usually dwelled upon - a subtle touch to the cinematography that equally impresses.
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Okkervil | 77 77th |
"Kes" is one of those films that has weaved its way into the British psyche, precisely because even today, 40 years after it was made, it still encompasses and reflects much of working class British society, at least in an ideological if not practically realistic & modern way. "Kes" is a stark and miserable film, but also funny and strangely hopeful, until its tragic and grim final moments. Ending a low note is quintessentially British! I'm pretty sure all of Barnsley is the poor end of Barnley!
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P u l p | 88 97th |
Manchester United 1 - 2 Spurs. Bad day for everyone.
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MartinTeller | 86 87th |
Something like 400 Blows, but in the style of kitchen sink realism. Ken Loach's direction is assured and unobtrusive, carving out the stark reality without a lot of fuss. And young David Bradley does a superb job handling the lead role. The ending is predictably awful, although that doesn't really lessen its heartbreaking impact. Likewise, the metaphorical symbolism of Kes is extremely blunt, but very effective nonetheless. I found the film quite moving and even captivating at times.
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TheDiceman | 80 95th |
Fantastic and heart breaking film.
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KasperL | 80 86th |
As all of the best moments of Loach's coming of age story are in the last act, it's a British classic that requires some patience. But it definitely pays off, and David Bradley, who is very good in the lead role, is one of the reasons why the film ultimately becomes so involving.
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hehejaja | 80 76th |
Impressive debut. The first half hour doesn't promise anything of significance, but Loach's empathic gaze makes itself more and more visible further into the film, and the grief-stricken ending carry a solemn dignity and hopefulness in all its mournfulness; the decisive humanism Loach so carefully have establish sits so deep at this moment that one cannot go exclusively sad out of the film experience.
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drawkward86 | 91 80th |
How does a film so bleak and ultimately hopeless make me so happy?
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burmashave | 99 99th |
one of the most empathetic films I've watched. perfectly understands all the wrong ways in which society treats children
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manwhonose | 96 88th |
Very naturalistic, beautifully shot and heartbreaking.
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Snufkin88 | 72 41st |
"We don't care about them, and they don't care about us." Kind of like a British 'The 400 Blows', without the fluidity, but what makes this film equally as memorable is it's striking but subtle social commentary on the desperation of 60's Northern England and the gap between the war heroes and 'layabouts' that came after. There really is no other film like this in the 60s and it's essential viewing for anyone who loves cinema.
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Average Percentile 75.04% from 1083 Ratings | ![]() |