Review of Kes (1970) by James-Masaki R — 21 May 2011

A most beautiful film. I remember seeing it on channel 12 one Saturday afternoon. They would run films on cfcf on Sat afternoon, with lots of commercials. Saw it on an old tube TV. I remember feeling okay about film, liking the kid, the scenes with the kestrel, not understanding a lot of what was said.

A few things lingered, notably the boy's face, a face that today still punctures through all cyncism straight to the heart. And his high clear voice calling to the bird, the way he addresses her as she.

It's a pure film, simple, clear, heartfelt, revealing, in the way it's shot, a system of living that damns us in life, confines us to being less than what we really are. Art in this instance is truly redemptive, for it allows us to see people in their dignity, as director points out, when all around - teachers, family, school - are those who do not see the dignity.

This philosophy is evident in the interviews with director and producer who have a well-wrought vision, who state this about their own work better than anything I might come up with from watching it. So I will say I love it.

I love watching these images, the boy on the street of the Northern English town, him walking through the forest and finding a nest of kestrels high in a broken-down castle wall, the way he conceives of having one for himself to fly, and my surprise at learning this is what he was thinking when he explains to farmer, and then the moments of him flying it, and his voice calling the bird, which I remember from when I was a boy watching it.

Everything about this movie, I think, is a kind of treasure.