''Looks and Smiles'' is a 1981 British

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-gen ...

directed by

Ken Loach Kenneth Charles Loach (born 17 June 1936) is a British film director and screenwriter. His socially critical directing style and socialist ideals are evident in his film treatment of social issues such as poverty ('' Poor Cow'', 1967), homelessn ...

. It is based on the novel of the same name, written by

Barry Hines Melvin Barry Hines, FRSL (30 June 1939 – 18 March 2016) was an English author, playwright and screenwriter. His novels and screenplays explore the political and economic struggles of working-class Northern England, particularly in his native ...

. The film was entered into the

1981 Cannes Film Festival The 34th Cannes Film Festival was held from 13 to 27 May 1981. The Palme d'Or went to the '' Człowiek z żelaza'' by Andrzej Wajda. The festival opened with '' Three Brothers'' (''Tre fratelli'') by Francesco Rosi and closed with '' Honeysuckle ...

, where Loach won the Young Cinema Award. The film was shot in black-and-white entirely on location in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and ...

.Leigh, Jacob (2002), ''The Cinema of Ken Loach: Art in the Service of the People'', Wallflower Press, , p.130 There is some

Yorkshire dialect The Yorkshire dialect (also known as Broad Yorkshire, Tyke, Yorkie or Yorkshire English) is a dialect of English, or continuum of dialects, spoken in the Yorkshire region of Northern England. The dialect has roots in Old English and is in ...

in the film, although not as much as in previous Loach-Hines collaborations such as '' Kes'' and ''

The Price of Coal ''The Price of Coal'' is a two-part television drama written by Barry Hines and directed by Ken Loach first broadcast as part of the ''Play for Today'' series in 1977. Set at the fictional Milton Colliery, near Barnsley in South Yorkshire, the ep ...

''. Despite this, the review in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' complained that "a great deal of the dialogue remains unintelligible to the American ear."

Plot

A disadvantaged young man tries to get by in Margaret Thatcher's England. Writing in his book ''The Cinema of Ken Loach'', Jacob Leigh comments: "''Looks and Smiles'' reveals the depression people felt in the industrial North of England in the 1980s; but it is as depressing as Mick's life. ... Loach's characteristic attention to detail renders the film a period piece."

Cast

* Graham Green - Michael 'Mick' Walsh * Carolyn Nicholson - Karen Lodge *

Tony Pitts Anthony Pitts (born 10 October 1962) is an English actor, most notable for playing Archie Brooks in the long-running British soap ''Emmerdale Farm'' between 1983 and 1993. Early life Pitts was born in Sheffield, England. His family was wor ...

- Alan Wright * Roy Haywood - Phil * Phil Askham - Mr. Walsh * Pam Darrell - Mrs. Walsh * Tracey Goodlad - Julie * Patti Nicholls - Mrs. Wright * Cilla Mason - Mrs. Lodge * Les Hickin - George * Arthur Davies - Eric Lodge * Deirdre Costello - Jenny (as Deidre Costello) * Jackie Shinn - Gatekeeper * Christine Francis - Careers Officer * Rita May - Receptionist

Aftermath

Ken Loach considered the film a failure and turned to making documentaries for several years afterwards, saying that the film failed to "create the outrage in the audience that should have been there". He also considered it "the end of an era" as he avoided long camera shots in subsequent films.Leigh, Jacob (2002), ''The Cinema of Ken Loach: Art in the Service of the People'', Wallflower Press, , p.118 A 2016 Guardian article wrote, "Even the most devoted fan found 1981’s Looks & Smiles painfully miserable". In support of the film, it has been held up as one of Ken Loach's film that does not propagate one political view heavily, as opposed to ''

Fatherland A homeland is a place where a cultural, national, or racial identity has formed. The definition can also mean simply one's country of birth. When used as a proper noun, the Homeland, as well as its equivalents in other languages, often has ethn ...

'' or '' Land and Freedom''https://libcom.org/library/dubious-virtues-propaganda-ken-loachs-land-freedom-gilles-dauv%C3%A9 The dubious virtues of propaganda: Ken Loach's "Land and Freedom" - Gilles Dauvé 2014

References

External links

*
Full movie on Dailymotion
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Looks And Smiles 1981 films 1981 drama films British drama films British black-and-white films Films directed by Ken Loach Films scored by Marc Wilkinson Films set in Sheffield Films shot in South Yorkshire Social realism in film 1980s English-language films 1980s British films