1st watched 9/2/2002 - 7 out of 10(Dir-Ken Loach): Well played and disturbing documentary style movie about one messed-up family's life but more specifically the life of one of the children. Janice was supposedly perfect growing up, but went bad according to her parents when she started speaking her own mind and making her own decisions. The parents lost control of her and throughout this movie they seemed to be trying to fight for it back. The camera follows this family through the qwest of trying to find out what's wrong with Janice and why she's having so many problems. The sad thing is that no-one really figures this out despite many different treatments that are done on her. This movie is played out like a documentary case study, but it's actually a film played out by actors but it is done so well that it's hard for anyone to tell. Movies like this are more than entertainment, they are sobering melo-drama's about the hard things of life and how we do and don't cope with them.
19 Reviews
The pressures of meeting conventional standards !!!
avik-basu18899 May 2017
The opening credits for Ken Loach's 'Family Life' are accompanied by a montage of still shots of an industrial working class British town to establish the setting and backdrop of the narrative. During this montage we get an image of a straight line of houses in the neighbourhood. I think from a certain angle, that image is expressive of the struggles that the protagonist Janice goes through in the film. The houses stacking up one after the other in a rigid line is thematically similar to the what Janice's parents expect her to do, live her life in a specific and pre-ordained way within inflexible parameters and become the person that they want her to be instead of allowing herself to discover and realise what she wants to do with her life. They want her to become another addition to the rigid straight line of conformists. This is a tale of suffocation brought on by a rigid obligation to conform.
This was released in 1971, that is right after the swinging sixties and there is abundant reference to the counter-culture movements and the hippie revolution. Janice's parents are conservative Christian working class people who look down upon the new ways of the new times. They want their daughter to do 'what's good for her' as long as what she does conforms to their rigid idea of 'good'. After Janice gets forced to abort her unborn child by them, she slowly and gradually disintegrates and becomes a mere shadow of her former self. Her rights get taken away from her and she succumbs to the pressure of rigid traditionalism.
Loach doesn't do anything flashy with the camera. As a matter of fact I can't remember a single shot in the film that seeks attention. It's very understated. Loach uses the quintessential kitchen-sink drama approach and allows the scenes to progress with the help of strong dialogue instead of visual poetry. Although there is one distinct poetic scene where Janice goes on a sweet spray painting spree and we see a look of sheer joy on her face, for a change. This moment reminded me of the scene in Loach's 'Kes' where Billy explains his bird's habits to his classmates and for the first time, we can distinctly hear a new sense of passion in his voice.
The screenplay I think has some weaknesses. The timeline gets muddled up unnecessarily at the beginning which makes it a bit confusing to get a grasp of the timeline and the order of the events. Secondly, although there is an attempt made to explore and humanise the parents towards the beginning of the film with a scene involving the father somewhat opening up to the doctor about his marriage and family life, however those efforts get abandoned completely and the parents gradually become more and more hate- worthy due to their constant reprehensible actions and words. I feel Loach and his screenwriter could have tried to humanise the parents a bit more which thereby would have added more complexity to the film instead of making them completely antagonistic.
The tone set by Loach is naturalistic and the acting is likewise. The conversations and verbal exchanges are acted out and staged with an admirable air of authenticity. Sandy Ratcliff deserves a special mention. She convincing manages to portray a mentally troubled and depressed individual without the clichéd mannerisms that some actors resort to for selling a state of mental imbalance. She managed to make me really care for her character which is necessary for this role.
'Family Life' isn't a perfect film, but it is certainly worth watching.
This was released in 1971, that is right after the swinging sixties and there is abundant reference to the counter-culture movements and the hippie revolution. Janice's parents are conservative Christian working class people who look down upon the new ways of the new times. They want their daughter to do 'what's good for her' as long as what she does conforms to their rigid idea of 'good'. After Janice gets forced to abort her unborn child by them, she slowly and gradually disintegrates and becomes a mere shadow of her former self. Her rights get taken away from her and she succumbs to the pressure of rigid traditionalism.
Loach doesn't do anything flashy with the camera. As a matter of fact I can't remember a single shot in the film that seeks attention. It's very understated. Loach uses the quintessential kitchen-sink drama approach and allows the scenes to progress with the help of strong dialogue instead of visual poetry. Although there is one distinct poetic scene where Janice goes on a sweet spray painting spree and we see a look of sheer joy on her face, for a change. This moment reminded me of the scene in Loach's 'Kes' where Billy explains his bird's habits to his classmates and for the first time, we can distinctly hear a new sense of passion in his voice.
The screenplay I think has some weaknesses. The timeline gets muddled up unnecessarily at the beginning which makes it a bit confusing to get a grasp of the timeline and the order of the events. Secondly, although there is an attempt made to explore and humanise the parents towards the beginning of the film with a scene involving the father somewhat opening up to the doctor about his marriage and family life, however those efforts get abandoned completely and the parents gradually become more and more hate- worthy due to their constant reprehensible actions and words. I feel Loach and his screenwriter could have tried to humanise the parents a bit more which thereby would have added more complexity to the film instead of making them completely antagonistic.
The tone set by Loach is naturalistic and the acting is likewise. The conversations and verbal exchanges are acted out and staged with an admirable air of authenticity. Sandy Ratcliff deserves a special mention. She convincing manages to portray a mentally troubled and depressed individual without the clichéd mannerisms that some actors resort to for selling a state of mental imbalance. She managed to make me really care for her character which is necessary for this role.
'Family Life' isn't a perfect film, but it is certainly worth watching.
Who's making this code of living?
sol-11 April 2016
Forced by her parents to abort her unborn child, a teenager suffers a nervous breakdown and is taken to a psychiatrist, but the effectiveness is limited as her parents refuse to accept blame in this unpleasant yet encapsulating human drama from Ken Loach. With a cast of non-professional and first time actors, Loach manages to elicit some very down-to-earth performances and there are several memorable moments throughout as the girl struggles to cop with her loss. At one point, she draws a replacement child on her stomach with tears coming out of its eyes; at another point, she takes to deliriously spray-painting plants and trees blue as a form of expression. The film loses focus at times though with side scenes in which the hospital staff debate whether her psychiatrist's unconventional approach to therapy is worthwhile. The dialogue is also a tad problematic as the psychiatrist tends to lecture the parents at length, however, the girl's mother and father are given several great lines, most notably a flippant "who's making this code of living?" in regards to 1970s permissiveness. Other memorable quotes include "everyone's a bit peculiar" and "control is the answer" as the girl tries to ascertain whether she knows best or her parents do. This in turn is where the key strength of the film lies: the struggle of a youth to become independent when all she has ever known is dependency on her parents.
Painfully accurate!
justintlott22 April 2010
I first saw this film a few years back in a graduate school film class and it continues to haunt me with its power. During the initial screening, I actually had to leave the class for some air and collect myself: it struck a nerve that I hadn't felt sense my teenage years: the frustration of being a troubled teenager who was sorely misunderstood. . Most parents like to think of themselves as good parents if they work and put food on the table (which is hard enough in itself.) But that is not enough! Nurturing comes to play as much as being a provider and this is something the parents just don't get. And what's sadder is that they are in a highly polarized environment (1971) between young and old, both sides too quick to assign blame.
As a teenager growing up in the 90s, I experienced some of the same frustrations as the girl in this story and was all too often categorized as a "problem" simply because the adults in my life were "doing the best they could" and therefore there has to be something wrong with me. I was luckier than the girl of this story, who's best hope for salvation is vanquished by a psychiatric bureaucracy that is too concerned about appearances to have the patience to be progressive in their ways and their thinking.
"Family Life" is a rarity. A film that does not get old but can serve as a lesson and a warning to future generations.
As a teenager growing up in the 90s, I experienced some of the same frustrations as the girl in this story and was all too often categorized as a "problem" simply because the adults in my life were "doing the best they could" and therefore there has to be something wrong with me. I was luckier than the girl of this story, who's best hope for salvation is vanquished by a psychiatric bureaucracy that is too concerned about appearances to have the patience to be progressive in their ways and their thinking.
"Family Life" is a rarity. A film that does not get old but can serve as a lesson and a warning to future generations.
A powerful, but discouraging, movie about mental health.
Red-12524 December 2019
Family Life (1971) was directed by Ken Loach.
The film stars Sandy Ratcliff as Janice Baildon. Janice is a young woman who has some emotional problems. She's standing at the brink of a long slide downwards. Briefly, a caring physician intervenes, but after that she's on her own.
There are no real villains in this movie, in the sense of people who know what they're doing is wrong, and do it anyway. Everyone--her parents, her psychiatrists--are convinced that what they are doing is right.
That is the paradox of this film--well-meaning people are hurting Janice without recognizing what they are doing.
Sadly, almost 50 years later, psychiatry hasn't made that much progress. True, there are many new medications, and there are many new non-medication approaches, but there hasn't been a real breakthrough. People like Janice might find themselves in the same situation, with the same bad consequences.
We saw this film on the small screen, where it worked well. The movie has a very strong IMDb rating of7.7. I think it's even better than that.
The film stars Sandy Ratcliff as Janice Baildon. Janice is a young woman who has some emotional problems. She's standing at the brink of a long slide downwards. Briefly, a caring physician intervenes, but after that she's on her own.
There are no real villains in this movie, in the sense of people who know what they're doing is wrong, and do it anyway. Everyone--her parents, her psychiatrists--are convinced that what they are doing is right.
That is the paradox of this film--well-meaning people are hurting Janice without recognizing what they are doing.
Sadly, almost 50 years later, psychiatry hasn't made that much progress. True, there are many new medications, and there are many new non-medication approaches, but there hasn't been a real breakthrough. People like Janice might find themselves in the same situation, with the same bad consequences.
We saw this film on the small screen, where it worked well. The movie has a very strong IMDb rating of7.7. I think it's even better than that.
Such is Life
chris.murray324 May 2001
Ironically this film comes across as being considerably more true to life than the numerous "docusoaps" that currently clog up the schedules on British television. Watching Family Life is as close as one can get to feeling like an actual fly on the wall. Sandy Ratcliffe is heartbreaking as the young dazed and confused schizophrenic girl, whose condition deteriorates thanks to her domineering parents. Bill Dean and Grace Cave are all too believable as the aforementioned mother and father, and are true screen monsters. Despite never believing that they are in the wrong, neither of the "oh so reasonable" parents are able to see beyond the end of their noses.
This film does have some touching moments but, alas, the ending is not a happy one. Which is especially a shame as the film does occasionally allow a faint glimmer of hope shine through.
This film does have some touching moments but, alas, the ending is not a happy one. Which is especially a shame as the film does occasionally allow a faint glimmer of hope shine through.
A tough watch but interesting look at mental healthcare provision in 1971
tonypeacock-15 August 2023
An excellent, if aged look at mental health problems, attitudes and treatments in a post World War Two austere England.
Directed by Kenneth Loach. Loach has never reached Hollywood and his films deal with a range of social issues in the UK. In this case mental health healthcare provision and attitudes of previous generations. It is funny to think of the younger generation in this film as that of the central character Janice's age are by 2023 much older themselves.
Now one issue I have with Loach films is the political slants? In this case I think Loach is implying that Janice's parents are old fashioned. Also that the traditional approach (in 1971 drug therapy and electric shock therapy) to mental healthcare is also compared with more modern approaches (then of course) to mental healthcare.
I admire Loach for bringing subjects such as this and other social justice topics to mainstream cinema but they can often be a tough watch for mainstream audiences. Kes (1969) it isn't.
Directed by Kenneth Loach. Loach has never reached Hollywood and his films deal with a range of social issues in the UK. In this case mental health healthcare provision and attitudes of previous generations. It is funny to think of the younger generation in this film as that of the central character Janice's age are by 2023 much older themselves.
Now one issue I have with Loach films is the political slants? In this case I think Loach is implying that Janice's parents are old fashioned. Also that the traditional approach (in 1971 drug therapy and electric shock therapy) to mental healthcare is also compared with more modern approaches (then of course) to mental healthcare.
I admire Loach for bringing subjects such as this and other social justice topics to mainstream cinema but they can often be a tough watch for mainstream audiences. Kes (1969) it isn't.
Diary of a Lost Girl
richardchatten22 November 2022
Described by the late David Shipman as a "scream of rage against the suburbs", 'Kenneth' Loach (as he then called himself) and Tony Garnett took a advantage of the freak success enjoyed by their company Kestral's 'Kes' to make probably their bleakest and most nihilistic film, based on their 1967 Play for Today 'In Two Minds' by David Mercer.
The additional of colour if anything actually makes the film look drabber, perfectly complementing the heroine's downward slide into a listless & resigned zombie doped up to the eyeballs on tranquillisers. You only have to listen to the heroine's ghastly mother talking non-stop and never listening where the poor girl's problems really originated.
The famous Loach style was already well in evidence, with all that spontaneity achieved by shooting such a vast amount of footage that one day the Arriflex burned out. Seen after fifty years it's also poignant that Sandy Ratcliffe like Carol White eventually came to a sad end.
The additional of colour if anything actually makes the film look drabber, perfectly complementing the heroine's downward slide into a listless & resigned zombie doped up to the eyeballs on tranquillisers. You only have to listen to the heroine's ghastly mother talking non-stop and never listening where the poor girl's problems really originated.
The famous Loach style was already well in evidence, with all that spontaneity achieved by shooting such a vast amount of footage that one day the Arriflex burned out. Seen after fifty years it's also poignant that Sandy Ratcliffe like Carol White eventually came to a sad end.
"Families, I hate you!"
ElMaruecan8230 September 2021
This quote from André Gide would make a terrific subtitle to "Family Life", the harrowing portrayal of an existentially confused girl and her two conservative parents.
The film is based on one of Wednesday Plays' most remembered episodes "In Two Minds" also directed by Ken Loach and written by David Mercer and dealing with a girl named Kate, living under the constant psychological pressuring of her parents and after a forced abortion, let her mind drift toward schizophrenia. The film version starring Sandy Ratcliff is clearly a reworking on the same subject but also an improvement.
For one thing, I think the use of color makes the difference, while the original was in black-and-white and could effectively convey the documentary-like aspect especially with the constant reliance on interviews, it gave a rather nightmarish, almost horror-like tone like one of these archive footage or stolen image from medical centers, as unsettling as that video where scientists test the effect of LSD on a poor cat. It was still a powerful film and I couldn't believe Darren Aronofsky didn't base Sara's demise in "Requiem for a Dream" from the fate of poor Kate (played by Anna Cropper).
But "Family Life" is much closer to Cassavetes' "A Woman Under the Influence" (and Janice is indeed under the influence) and getting back to colors, the beige and pastel tones create a startling contrast between Janice's state and the dullness of the environment she was brought up in, a bourgeois little house whose conformity is too clean to fool us. It's indeed an ordinary environment, not the kind that would lead to any trauma or alienation but Loach deliberately emphasizes the normality to demonstrate how problematic it was, if not for the parents but for Janice or her generation.
The film opens with one of Loach's trademark, Janice (Sandy Raitcliff in her debut) talks a little about herself to her psychiatrist Dr. Donaldson (Michael Riddall). She's a pretty 19-year-old girl, with a boyfriend named Tim (Malcolm Tierney) and again it's less in the things she say than the way she does or what she doesn't say that we can have our few glimpses on her emotional troubles. The editing is uncertain since we never really tell when it's a flashback or not but the first part clearly establishes the confusion within her mind and the causes of her troubles: an abortion she didn't want to have.
From her parents' reaction we can see the tragic paradox, they ask her to behave responsibly but they treat her as an irresponsible girl who can't make up her mind. The point of Loach is to show that sometimes madness isn't something you're born with but with the reaction to an education that forces you to behave in a way that contradicts your own prospects in life, leading you to a point where you simply don't know where to go. The father is played by Bill Dean and the mother by Grace Cave and the tragedy is less in their constant blaming of Jan's behavior but the fact that they don't realize the 'gaslighting' effect on her already fragile psyche.
Mrs. Baildon is certainly the most memorable character, so conservative it's scary, when she visits the doctor she deplores that his secretary calls his by his first name, which should be the least of her concerns. When the father is asked to talk about sex, he eludes the question in a way that confirms this isn't exactly the cement of his marriage. In a way, he did also conform to his wife's values. Taken separately, the parents become more approachable, almost as fragile as their daughter, in fact it's only when they're together that they form that 'two-headed' monster that Jan can't fight alone, leading her to the only viable solution: medical treatment. I didn't expect much from the medical world after witnessing how disastrous the welfare system worked in "Cathy Come Home" and indeed, the remedy proved even worse than the disease.
Yet the film's most brilliant moment came from a simple dinner scene with Janice's sister (Hilary Martin) and the verbal escalation that made me think of Ingmar Bergman's "Scenes from a Marriage". The scene isn't just magnificently directed and edited with that crescendo leading to the inevitable clash but also because it for once puts the parents in the accused box and for once they have to answer for their behavior. The mother tries to get away with it by proposing some jelly to her granddaughters and the father doesn't answer the content but the tone, asking for more respect because as a father, he's earned it. These usual rhetorical tricks highlight the sad reality of this family: when parents are too blind to see the disastrous effects of their education, any questioning would lead to a dialogue of the deaf.
Overall, the directing is forceful and Loach so at ease with his cinema-verité roots that some bits of surrealism were unneeded (like the blue painting scene). The realism culminates dramatically with the electroshock and this unforgettable conclusion where Janice is exposed to the medical students in an amphitheater like in a freak show. The film cuts abruptly as if the point was already made but maybe it should have emulated "In Two Minds" with the question sessions during the ending credits (I find the original ending more affecting).
"Family Life" invites us to question the crucial role of parenting in the way it shapes children's adulthood, parenting shouldn't be moulding but understanding. Generation gap is a reality that can't be dismissed and there are many sequences showing the youth of the 70s, long-haired rebels without a cause and I guess the point is to show that these kids live in a present and their parents try to educate them with values inherited from the past, consider the social evolution from the 20s to the 70s and you'll get the core of that lose-lose situation and incidentally, Janice's tragedy.
The film is based on one of Wednesday Plays' most remembered episodes "In Two Minds" also directed by Ken Loach and written by David Mercer and dealing with a girl named Kate, living under the constant psychological pressuring of her parents and after a forced abortion, let her mind drift toward schizophrenia. The film version starring Sandy Ratcliff is clearly a reworking on the same subject but also an improvement.
For one thing, I think the use of color makes the difference, while the original was in black-and-white and could effectively convey the documentary-like aspect especially with the constant reliance on interviews, it gave a rather nightmarish, almost horror-like tone like one of these archive footage or stolen image from medical centers, as unsettling as that video where scientists test the effect of LSD on a poor cat. It was still a powerful film and I couldn't believe Darren Aronofsky didn't base Sara's demise in "Requiem for a Dream" from the fate of poor Kate (played by Anna Cropper).
But "Family Life" is much closer to Cassavetes' "A Woman Under the Influence" (and Janice is indeed under the influence) and getting back to colors, the beige and pastel tones create a startling contrast between Janice's state and the dullness of the environment she was brought up in, a bourgeois little house whose conformity is too clean to fool us. It's indeed an ordinary environment, not the kind that would lead to any trauma or alienation but Loach deliberately emphasizes the normality to demonstrate how problematic it was, if not for the parents but for Janice or her generation.
The film opens with one of Loach's trademark, Janice (Sandy Raitcliff in her debut) talks a little about herself to her psychiatrist Dr. Donaldson (Michael Riddall). She's a pretty 19-year-old girl, with a boyfriend named Tim (Malcolm Tierney) and again it's less in the things she say than the way she does or what she doesn't say that we can have our few glimpses on her emotional troubles. The editing is uncertain since we never really tell when it's a flashback or not but the first part clearly establishes the confusion within her mind and the causes of her troubles: an abortion she didn't want to have.
From her parents' reaction we can see the tragic paradox, they ask her to behave responsibly but they treat her as an irresponsible girl who can't make up her mind. The point of Loach is to show that sometimes madness isn't something you're born with but with the reaction to an education that forces you to behave in a way that contradicts your own prospects in life, leading you to a point where you simply don't know where to go. The father is played by Bill Dean and the mother by Grace Cave and the tragedy is less in their constant blaming of Jan's behavior but the fact that they don't realize the 'gaslighting' effect on her already fragile psyche.
Mrs. Baildon is certainly the most memorable character, so conservative it's scary, when she visits the doctor she deplores that his secretary calls his by his first name, which should be the least of her concerns. When the father is asked to talk about sex, he eludes the question in a way that confirms this isn't exactly the cement of his marriage. In a way, he did also conform to his wife's values. Taken separately, the parents become more approachable, almost as fragile as their daughter, in fact it's only when they're together that they form that 'two-headed' monster that Jan can't fight alone, leading her to the only viable solution: medical treatment. I didn't expect much from the medical world after witnessing how disastrous the welfare system worked in "Cathy Come Home" and indeed, the remedy proved even worse than the disease.
Yet the film's most brilliant moment came from a simple dinner scene with Janice's sister (Hilary Martin) and the verbal escalation that made me think of Ingmar Bergman's "Scenes from a Marriage". The scene isn't just magnificently directed and edited with that crescendo leading to the inevitable clash but also because it for once puts the parents in the accused box and for once they have to answer for their behavior. The mother tries to get away with it by proposing some jelly to her granddaughters and the father doesn't answer the content but the tone, asking for more respect because as a father, he's earned it. These usual rhetorical tricks highlight the sad reality of this family: when parents are too blind to see the disastrous effects of their education, any questioning would lead to a dialogue of the deaf.
Overall, the directing is forceful and Loach so at ease with his cinema-verité roots that some bits of surrealism were unneeded (like the blue painting scene). The realism culminates dramatically with the electroshock and this unforgettable conclusion where Janice is exposed to the medical students in an amphitheater like in a freak show. The film cuts abruptly as if the point was already made but maybe it should have emulated "In Two Minds" with the question sessions during the ending credits (I find the original ending more affecting).
"Family Life" invites us to question the crucial role of parenting in the way it shapes children's adulthood, parenting shouldn't be moulding but understanding. Generation gap is a reality that can't be dismissed and there are many sequences showing the youth of the 70s, long-haired rebels without a cause and I guess the point is to show that these kids live in a present and their parents try to educate them with values inherited from the past, consider the social evolution from the 20s to the 70s and you'll get the core of that lose-lose situation and incidentally, Janice's tragedy.
A victim of Narcissism
saltamavros26 July 2023
This movie is not about some old issues of seventies society. Though it is very painful to watch, it struck me from the first minute and I think lot of people will find many similarities with their own lives. The movie is about a daughter of Narcissist parents. Their opinion is all that matters and they keep interfering with the life of their daughter who is simply trying to escape from the net around her. She does not have the strength as her sister did in the past, to leave the house prison of her family and maybe she does not understand how harm they have done. As narciccists the parents have send contradicted messages to their daughter from the day she was born. So the victim can not realize she is not loved by them. They dont show any empathy at all. Love and the relationship with a young artist was her only glimpse of hope in her life but it never had a really chance actually. The Mother seems like she has done all right and the best for her daughter, keeps talking without listening at all and persuades all others to not see what is really happening, even the psychiatrists. Society thinks that mother and father because of their role and status can not harm their children. That is the real core of the problem. Public opinion gives some sort of immunity to parents though some questions from the first doctor who realized what was happening could solve the problem. But then he gets fired. The psychiatric isssue here is that the parents are narcissists and that is what really caused the problem and where the medical intervention should start.
Didn't hold my interest
Leofwine_draca22 January 2022
A documentary-style production from Ken Loach which looks at the trauma suffered by a young girl who is forced into abortion by her own parents. Very low-key and slow, as befitting the documentary approach. A look at the power politics inside a single family while also shining a light on the social milieu of the early 1970s. Unfortunately although the subject matter is certainly hard-hitting, I didn't like this anywhere near as much as I liked earlier Loach films like POOR COW and KES.
We struggled hard all our life to get by..
dbdumonteil5 December 2001
..and however,she's leaving home,at least mentally.
"Family life" is the most difficult,the most austere of all Kenneth Loach's efforts.One should add it's also his most dated.The generation gap,with these "boys and daughters who are beyond your command",all this looks like hippie relics.As do the mother's wailings:the youth is not what it used to be,they don't show respect anymore,they make love all day when they're not taking drugs etc.The generation gap is not typically sixties or early seventies.It's an all-time problem:For instance,Elia Kazan's "East of Eden" was made in 1954,and the action takes place circa 1914.So a lot of stuff at the beginning of "Family life" deals with clichés.
Nevertheless,this movie is a must if you like the "European " style.Its form is absolutely unique,looking like a special report,a survey,with question/answer dialogues galore.At times,we wonder whether the actors are actually playing.We're close to "cinema verite" (see JL Godard's "masculin feminin" (1966))A viewer who would turn the TV on halfway through the movie,might think he's watching a documentary film.
Janice is a rather normal young woman,with normal problems.she had a hard time of it when she had an abortion .Her mother is a puritan,rigid,and probably frigid woman,her father is a "honor and duty" man.Both content themselves with a routine nine-to-five life,and they are convinced that they are good parents.The father is proud of the clock his bosses have given to him,after 25 years of hard work,the mother of her jelly.
Janice is some kind of misfit,and she's not unlike the main character from "la tête contre les murs"(George Franju,1958).But there's a huge difference:Franju tells a story,Loach does not.No dramatization at all in the English director's film.There is a similar scene in the two movies:both inmates escape ,take refuge in their girl/boyfriend's flat,then the police come:Franju's character is desperate,revolted,Janice is already a zombie,she cannot react anymore.
A lot of people said the shrinks were caricatures in "family life":completely true as far the last one is concerned.But the first one ,on the other hand ,sees well:three times,he asks the father if his sexual relations are satisfying ,and every time he tries to change the subject.
Kenneth Loach has come a long way from the documentary style of "poor cow"(1967) and "family life".It's interesting to note that the movie midway between ,"Kes" (1969),is more accessible,being more storybook.During the eighties and nineties,with such works as "hidden agenda" and the wonderful "carla's song",Kenneth Loach will prove he can be a story teller too.
"Family life" is the most difficult,the most austere of all Kenneth Loach's efforts.One should add it's also his most dated.The generation gap,with these "boys and daughters who are beyond your command",all this looks like hippie relics.As do the mother's wailings:the youth is not what it used to be,they don't show respect anymore,they make love all day when they're not taking drugs etc.The generation gap is not typically sixties or early seventies.It's an all-time problem:For instance,Elia Kazan's "East of Eden" was made in 1954,and the action takes place circa 1914.So a lot of stuff at the beginning of "Family life" deals with clichés.
Nevertheless,this movie is a must if you like the "European " style.Its form is absolutely unique,looking like a special report,a survey,with question/answer dialogues galore.At times,we wonder whether the actors are actually playing.We're close to "cinema verite" (see JL Godard's "masculin feminin" (1966))A viewer who would turn the TV on halfway through the movie,might think he's watching a documentary film.
Janice is a rather normal young woman,with normal problems.she had a hard time of it when she had an abortion .Her mother is a puritan,rigid,and probably frigid woman,her father is a "honor and duty" man.Both content themselves with a routine nine-to-five life,and they are convinced that they are good parents.The father is proud of the clock his bosses have given to him,after 25 years of hard work,the mother of her jelly.
Janice is some kind of misfit,and she's not unlike the main character from "la tête contre les murs"(George Franju,1958).But there's a huge difference:Franju tells a story,Loach does not.No dramatization at all in the English director's film.There is a similar scene in the two movies:both inmates escape ,take refuge in their girl/boyfriend's flat,then the police come:Franju's character is desperate,revolted,Janice is already a zombie,she cannot react anymore.
A lot of people said the shrinks were caricatures in "family life":completely true as far the last one is concerned.But the first one ,on the other hand ,sees well:three times,he asks the father if his sexual relations are satisfying ,and every time he tries to change the subject.
Kenneth Loach has come a long way from the documentary style of "poor cow"(1967) and "family life".It's interesting to note that the movie midway between ,"Kes" (1969),is more accessible,being more storybook.During the eighties and nineties,with such works as "hidden agenda" and the wonderful "carla's song",Kenneth Loach will prove he can be a story teller too.
R D Laing / Ken Loach heartbreak Film
sirparadigm101-16 December 2023
I first saw this on TV in the mid 70s. Yes TV was a very different proposition back then. As a study of generational alienation it is a masterpiece. Sandy is a 70s teenager of 1950s working class parents. They are completely unable to help or understand her rebellion. Once she is carrying an illegitimate child she becomes a problem. All of the brutal tools of 70s social control are here. The church, the normal person and finally psychiatric services / electrotherapy.
Even as a teenager I felt horrified at how society could demonise a young woman. This film sums up the bleak fag end of the hippie movement and how little attitudes had changed.
No one would or could make a film like this in 2023. But it planted seeds of tolerance in some. Unfortunately society has changed, the empathy this film engendered has withered under the fight to find enough to eat. Sad but essential viewing to view the social care movement crushed.
Even as a teenager I felt horrified at how society could demonise a young woman. This film sums up the bleak fag end of the hippie movement and how little attitudes had changed.
No one would or could make a film like this in 2023. But it planted seeds of tolerance in some. Unfortunately society has changed, the empathy this film engendered has withered under the fight to find enough to eat. Sad but essential viewing to view the social care movement crushed.
One of Loach's finest films
dr_clarke_24 February 2024
Warning: Spoilers
Family Life is Ken Loach's 1971 film adaptation of his early Wednesday Play 'In Two Minds', with both the original television play and the film written by David Mercer and produced by Tony Garnett. 'In Two Minds' was effective but slightly flawed; Loach and Mercer learn from that to make a much more consistent and powerful piece of drama for the cinema, albeit one as predictably depressing.
For this version, the Winter family becomes the Baildon family, but the basic plot remains the same, with the story following a troubled young woman as her mental health deteriorates over the course of the film and she ends up in a psychiatric hospital with little hope of ever getting out. Like 'In Two Minds', the focus is on how she gets to that point and the key crucial feature is retained, which is the implication that Mrs Baildon's stern disapproval of her daughter and the pressure she placed her under to have an abortion is the cause of Kate's mental illness, reflecting the theory published by Scottish psychiatrist R. D. Laing, which heavily influenced Mercer's story. Mr Baildon is less understanding in this version, and Janice is forced to see a psychiatrist by both her parents, who simply don't understand and can't empathise with her behaviour or feelings. Her mother repeatedly tells her that there must be something wrong with her.
The toxicity of Janice's home life presumably informs the change of title from 'In Two Minds' (which implies that the problem lies with the protagonist) to Family Life (which implies that her home life is instrumental in her problems). It's certainly a topic more directly and openly addressed in the film version, with psychiatrist Dr Donaldson putting it to Mrs Baildon that she is responsible for Janice's mental health problems due to her preoccupation with control. He openly challenges her views and attitudes. There's a quite lengthy scene added to the film, in which Janice's older sister - who is married and has moved out - comes round for dinner and has a blazing row with her parents, blaming them for her sister's mental health problems. A scene of the conservative Mrs Baildon talking to the psychiatrist about morality and traditional Christian values segues into a scene of long-haired youngsters sitting in a circle whilst one of them plays a Neil Young song on a guitar, emphasising the clash of generations and views that underscores the film.
The move to the psychiatric hospital comes earlier than in the television version, and has more of an emphasis on the conditions and other patients, reminiscent of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. As in the original, it eventually invokes that film in depicting psychiatric hospitals as terrifying, dehumanising places with unsympathetic staff, although they are more human than in 'In Two Minds'. There is also more emphasis on the innovative and experimental nature of Dr Donaldson's work, notably during the scene in which his registrar term at the hospital is not renewed, marking a change in Janice's fortunes as she is subjected to electroconvulsive therapy.
Sandy Ratcliff stars as Janice Baildon and Malcolm Tierney plays her boyfriend Tim (a new addition for the film version), but in early indication of Loach's fondness for casting unknowns, the mother was played by a suburban housewife Grace Cave and the Dr Donaldson by real psychiatrist Michael Riddall. Ratcliff is excellent, but the non-professionals are a revelation, with both Cave and Riddall proving utterly convincing. In keeping with the aesthetic of Loach's television work, cinematographer Charles Stewart helps bring the same docu-drama look and feel to the production as many of the director's television plays. As usual for Loach, the extensive location filming helps with the air of realism.
Like 'In Two Minds', Family Life ends on a depressing note, with Janice being sectioned (effectively, if not technically) at her mother's behest. And, like the television play, it ends with a lecture being delivered to a group of students about her case, with Janice actually placed on display at the front of the lecture theatre. The end result paints of bleak picture both of Janice's repressive home life and mental health care at the time; it's more nuanced and more satisfying than 'In Two Minds' and remains one of Loach's finest films.
For this version, the Winter family becomes the Baildon family, but the basic plot remains the same, with the story following a troubled young woman as her mental health deteriorates over the course of the film and she ends up in a psychiatric hospital with little hope of ever getting out. Like 'In Two Minds', the focus is on how she gets to that point and the key crucial feature is retained, which is the implication that Mrs Baildon's stern disapproval of her daughter and the pressure she placed her under to have an abortion is the cause of Kate's mental illness, reflecting the theory published by Scottish psychiatrist R. D. Laing, which heavily influenced Mercer's story. Mr Baildon is less understanding in this version, and Janice is forced to see a psychiatrist by both her parents, who simply don't understand and can't empathise with her behaviour or feelings. Her mother repeatedly tells her that there must be something wrong with her.
The toxicity of Janice's home life presumably informs the change of title from 'In Two Minds' (which implies that the problem lies with the protagonist) to Family Life (which implies that her home life is instrumental in her problems). It's certainly a topic more directly and openly addressed in the film version, with psychiatrist Dr Donaldson putting it to Mrs Baildon that she is responsible for Janice's mental health problems due to her preoccupation with control. He openly challenges her views and attitudes. There's a quite lengthy scene added to the film, in which Janice's older sister - who is married and has moved out - comes round for dinner and has a blazing row with her parents, blaming them for her sister's mental health problems. A scene of the conservative Mrs Baildon talking to the psychiatrist about morality and traditional Christian values segues into a scene of long-haired youngsters sitting in a circle whilst one of them plays a Neil Young song on a guitar, emphasising the clash of generations and views that underscores the film.
The move to the psychiatric hospital comes earlier than in the television version, and has more of an emphasis on the conditions and other patients, reminiscent of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. As in the original, it eventually invokes that film in depicting psychiatric hospitals as terrifying, dehumanising places with unsympathetic staff, although they are more human than in 'In Two Minds'. There is also more emphasis on the innovative and experimental nature of Dr Donaldson's work, notably during the scene in which his registrar term at the hospital is not renewed, marking a change in Janice's fortunes as she is subjected to electroconvulsive therapy.
Sandy Ratcliff stars as Janice Baildon and Malcolm Tierney plays her boyfriend Tim (a new addition for the film version), but in early indication of Loach's fondness for casting unknowns, the mother was played by a suburban housewife Grace Cave and the Dr Donaldson by real psychiatrist Michael Riddall. Ratcliff is excellent, but the non-professionals are a revelation, with both Cave and Riddall proving utterly convincing. In keeping with the aesthetic of Loach's television work, cinematographer Charles Stewart helps bring the same docu-drama look and feel to the production as many of the director's television plays. As usual for Loach, the extensive location filming helps with the air of realism.
Like 'In Two Minds', Family Life ends on a depressing note, with Janice being sectioned (effectively, if not technically) at her mother's behest. And, like the television play, it ends with a lecture being delivered to a group of students about her case, with Janice actually placed on display at the front of the lecture theatre. The end result paints of bleak picture both of Janice's repressive home life and mental health care at the time; it's more nuanced and more satisfying than 'In Two Minds' and remains one of Loach's finest films.
Wednesday's Child
parry_na9 November 2023
There was a slew of grim kitchen sink dramas around the '60s and '70s in British cinema, and they were often done extremely well. Such is the case here with Ken Loach and David Mercer's superficially simple story of Janice, played by Sandy Ratcliff. There might be said to be extra poignancy given that Ratcliff had a public battle with her own demons following her successful stint on BBC1's EastEnders years later. As Janice, she conveys heart-breakingly the fragility and difficult journey she faces - as well as the battles with those around her.
Her parents, a suitably gruff Bill Dean and Grace Cave (the characters are not given names, which distances them from the audience further) have moments when they appear genuinely to care for their daughter, but for the most part, they are monstrous in their belittlement and dismissal of her, whilst clinging onto their perceived decency and morals; the ultimate hypocrites. Non-conformist boyfriend Tim (Malcolm Tierney) genuinely wants to look after Jan, but has no concept of seeing beyond his own sense of rebellion. Those in charge of the hospital division interested in offering care for the girl are themselves at the mercy of cut-throat penny pinchers more concerned with ticking boxes and self-promotion than actually listening to what's going on.
Jan is at everyone's mercy, and it is difficult to watch her decline. The film ends midway through a scene, offering us no hope of any answers. We'd like to think she'll be alright. Wouldn't we?
Very powerful. Almost too much so at times. Not based on a true story; this is based on too many true stories. Times have changed since the early '70s of course, but the issues still remain, and so do the outside elements that exacerbate them. My score is 9 out of 10.
Her parents, a suitably gruff Bill Dean and Grace Cave (the characters are not given names, which distances them from the audience further) have moments when they appear genuinely to care for their daughter, but for the most part, they are monstrous in their belittlement and dismissal of her, whilst clinging onto their perceived decency and morals; the ultimate hypocrites. Non-conformist boyfriend Tim (Malcolm Tierney) genuinely wants to look after Jan, but has no concept of seeing beyond his own sense of rebellion. Those in charge of the hospital division interested in offering care for the girl are themselves at the mercy of cut-throat penny pinchers more concerned with ticking boxes and self-promotion than actually listening to what's going on.
Jan is at everyone's mercy, and it is difficult to watch her decline. The film ends midway through a scene, offering us no hope of any answers. We'd like to think she'll be alright. Wouldn't we?
Very powerful. Almost too much so at times. Not based on a true story; this is based on too many true stories. Times have changed since the early '70s of course, but the issues still remain, and so do the outside elements that exacerbate them. My score is 9 out of 10.
Not an easy watch
malcolmgsw10 April 2022
Some of Ken Loach's films are quite watchable,such as Les,this is not one of them. There are so many arguements in this film that there rarely bseems to be a normal conversation. It goes on interminably and is rather dull and depressing.
Family Life and the Antipsychiatric Theory of Ronald Laing
frrahier19 September 2006
Family Life I've seen this movie at the end of the seventies, in France, on TV. I registered it, but I lost the tape. Since, I remember a great film, the first of Ken Loach I think. Always in my memory is the last scene, Janice alone behind the students in the amphitheater's and doctor saying that the problem is in his mind and no in the relationship with her parents. I read in some reviews of this time that Ken Loach based his story on the "antipsychiatrics theories" of Dr. Ronald Laing and Cooper, that I studied in France when I was scholar, theories developed in the neighborhood of Jean Paul Sartre's existential psychoanalysis. Recently, a friend of mine, teacher of English literature in my college, initiate a curse on these problems with her students. She needs the original script of this film, but we don't know other that the French translation issued in the L'Avant-Scène french review.. Who could send me part of the script of this film (in English)? Thanks.
Family Life
pipsycaldwell1 April 2017
Sad, extremely true to life, though. Teenage girl trying to find herself while being restrained by parents who believe it's their way or the highway. No room for discussion, zero tolerance on the parents part. I could find no evidence of Schizophrenic behavior with the girl. Perhaps slightly bipolar. I felt extremely hurt by the mother's decision to make the girl abort her baby with no thought for how the girl would feel. The parents constant insistence that 'they know best' was so apparent throughout. The elder sister arguing with the parents in front of the g'children very sad but so much part of the family's everyday life.
Very bleak and disturbing
alasdair726 October 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Filmed in a distant documentary style presumably for realism. The film may have provided a touch of inspiration for later films such as Frances starring Jessica Lange.
Sandy Ratcliff plays a disturbed young woman who fails to be understood by the authority figures represented in many ways by her surprised parents and also by the medical/psychiatric staff.
The bleak conversational way in which it is filmed adds to our feeling of helplessness for Ratcliff's character which at times is as mischievous and out of control as Jessica Lange later was in her portrayal of the late Frances Farmer.
Sandy Ratcliff plays a disturbed young woman who fails to be understood by the authority figures represented in many ways by her surprised parents and also by the medical/psychiatric staff.
The bleak conversational way in which it is filmed adds to our feeling of helplessness for Ratcliff's character which at times is as mischievous and out of control as Jessica Lange later was in her portrayal of the late Frances Farmer.
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