{"id":15222,"date":"2023-04-16T08:59:04","date_gmt":"2023-04-16T07:59:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gfdesign.co.uk\/culture\/a-heartfelt-exploration-of-one-of-the-maestros-of-modern-british-cinema-a-review-of-tracking-loach-by-david-archibald\/"},"modified":"2023-04-16T08:59:04","modified_gmt":"2023-04-16T07:59:04","slug":"a-heartfelt-exploration-of-one-of-the-maestros-of-modern-british-cinema-a-review-of-tracking-loach-by-david-archibald","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gfdesign.co.uk\/culture\/a-heartfelt-exploration-of-one-of-the-maestros-of-modern-british-cinema-a-review-of-tracking-loach-by-david-archibald\/","title":{"rendered":"A heartfelt exploration of one of the maestros of modern British cinema: Tracking Loach, by David Archibald"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Brett Gregory<\/strong> reviews\u00a0\u2018Tracking Loach\u2019 by David Archibald (Edinburgh University Press, 2023<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n

David Archibald\u2019s book, \u2018Tracking Loach\u2019, is an academic celebration of Ken Loach\u2019s 60 year career in socialist filmmaking and political activism. It is also an extremely timely publication in that Loach\u2019s latest film, \u2018The Old Oak\u2019, will be receiving its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival 2023.<\/p>\n

The author\u2019s unique approach is to prioritise the contextual mechanics of film production studies over the theoretical speculation of critical screen studies, arguing that the reflective observation of the methodologies and logistics involved in preparing, shooting and exhibiting a feature film should elicit a complementary understanding of a filmmaker\u2019s aesthetic. This reminds me of a television interview with David Niven from the 1970s where he asks something along the lines of: \u2018How can a critic write a decent review if he\u2019s never actually made a movie himself?\u2019<\/p>\n

During Archibald\u2019s ethnographic pursuit of Loach\u2019s poetic and political process his primary sources of data are the annotations, interviews, shooting documents, digital footage and photographs he accrues while being physically present during the production and exhibition of Loach\u2019s working-class comedy-drama set in Glasgow, \u2018The Angel\u2019s Share\u2019 (2012).<\/p>\n

It should be noted that to be granted access to such a complex and sensitive creative environment and its extremely busy and anxious workforce \u2013 its technicians and performers \u2013 and, in turn, to enjoy the company and trust of its leaders who have the weight of a major production bearing down on them \u2013 Ken Loach (Director), Paul Laverty (Screenwriter) and Rebecca O\u2019Brien (Producer) \u2013 is a memorable achievement in itself.<\/p>\n

To accompany him on his journey the author also draws on a wide variety of historical and theoretical secondary sources, including the BFI\u2019s Ken Loach Archive, and, as a working-class filmmaker, postgraduate and former film studies lecturer, I found many of his scholarly citations to be just as illuminating as his on-set observations.<\/p>\n

For example, when working alongside his early screenwriting partner, Jim Allen, Archibald highlights that Loach\u2019s television productions in the late 1960s and early 1970s were influenced by the political ideas of Leon Trotsky in that the UK\u2019s established democratic system was seen to be inadequate with regards to the economic interests of the proletariat.<\/p>\n

Following on from this it is argued that Loach\u2019s films generally aim to reveal to the audience, either explicitly or implicitly, the harsh realities, exploitation and despair of working-class experience and, in turn, that capitalism is not a natural, normal or inevitable way of ordering or governing society.<\/p>\n