Scum

Starring: Mick Ford, Ray Winstone Director: Alan Clarke Original UK Premiere: 1979 Dvd Release: 24th February, 2003 Number Of Discs: 1 Format: PAL, Region 2 Encoding

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Scum is a film made in 1979 portraying the brutality of life inside a British borstal. Directed by Alan Clarke & starring Ray Winstone, Mick Ford, Martin Philips, Davidson Knight, John Blundell & Phil Daniels, it tells the story of a young offender named Carlin as he arrives at the institution & his swift rise to become The Daddy. The film is critical of the borstal system & caused much controversy when first shown. Some felt it should be banned, while others felt that it should be required viewing. The film is violent, with a vicious male rape scene that leads to the suicide of the victim. The warders & convicts alike are brutalised by the system. There is no attempt at rehabilitation, the inmates are simply locked away & left to their own devices. The story was originally made for the BBC s Play for Today strand in 1977 but was not shown at the time, although the BBC version has been broadcast since. Two years later director Alan Clarke & scriptwriter Roy Minton remade it as a film, which was then shown on Channel 4 in 1983, by which time the borstal system had been abolished.

Overall, I was disappointed with this film. Scum is above average but by no means exceptional. The acting is good most of the time, but the casting is not in some quite serious situations. For example, the Governor is such a stupid & strict stereotype, he just doesnt come accross as believable. Phil Daniels seems humbled & somewhat uncomfortable playing a slimy henchman to the initial daddy . Ray Winstone is good but I dont think his performance was as exceptional as some people seem to think .

The film is shocking, & it is bleak. But the script seems very weak in places & overall the film fails to have any powerful meaning & comes accross as shallow & simple. Phil Daniels threatens someone for no more of your poxy lip very unconvincingly at one point & its a problem for similar lines which are supposed to be menacing throughout the film. The gay rape scene was unexpected, unusual & daringly filmed but what followed it was annyoingly predictable .

The film just seemed to lack any deep characterisation at all, something which films about suffering seem to need to make the viewer care. The sad thing is the film seemed to make a half-hearted effort to be deeper, with moments of characterising people like Archer & Winstone but these are never carried through. Not one character leaves any lasting impression.

The film doesnt seem realistic because bits of it are absurd & accompanied by wicked pantomime grins & poor scripting. The setting of the film is interesting & some of the camerawork imaginative & engrossing & it isnt awful by any measure. But its no more than good & not something I would go out of my way to see. This is a real shame since I hoped I had discovered for my collection a great british film when I saw it through the recommendations.

My advice is to check out If.... or Quadrophenia , both of which are superb & more accomplished & satisfying than Scum. Another that comes to mind is the in my view faultless BBC film Out of Control which was made in 2001 & set in a Young Offenders institution. It does most of what Scum does plus a great deal more & I get the impression it is what Scum was trying to achieve. Out of Control is sadly not availble as far as I know unless you tape it when it occasionally comes up in Satellite schedules.

Raymond Andrew Winstone, better known as Ray Winstone, is a British actor. He met his wife, Elaine, while filming That Summer ; they have three daughters. As a boy, Winstone trained as a boxer. He won the London Schoolboy Championship three times & twice represented England. After leaving school he gave up boxing & studied drama at Corona School in Hammersmith, where he spent one year before being asked to leave. Winstone talked his way into an audition with the BBC for a 1977 play called Scum. He was cast in a leading role, but the play was judged unsuitable by the BBC & was not shown until 1991. In 1979, the play was turned into a film, with Winstone playing a tough newcomer to a borstal. Winstones role in Scum seems to have set a mould for many of his other parts; he is frequently cast as a tough or violent man. His film roles have included parts in Quadrophenia, That Summer, Ladybird Ladybird, Nil by Mouth, Face, Sexy Beast & Ripleys Game. Winstone has also been cast against type in some films in which he reveals a softer side. Posters Of Ray Winstone

Editors Choice: Ripleys Game, Sexy Beast, The Proposition, Face, Shes Gone, Final Cut, Henry Viii, Nil By Mouth, View DVDology

Alan Clarke was a film director, producer & writer, born in Birkenhead, Cheshire, England. Much of Clarkes output was for television rather than cinema & featured from 1969 onwards in The Wednesday Play & Play for Today. His subject matter tended towards social realism, especially with respect to deprived or oppressed communities. A number of his works achieved notoriety & widespread criticism from the more reactionary end of the media spectrum; such as Scum, dealing with the subject of Borstals - youth prisons. Posters Of The Firm

Editors Choice: The Firm, Scum, Made In Britain, Chopper, Elephant, Romper Stomper, View DVDology

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