Loach still looking for the left

Ken Loach films have always been about people. But, in the background there's always that hammering social, political heart. It's an occasionally bitter pill that doesn't always go down well with cinema popcorn, but its an utterly compelling talking point for any susceptible interviewer within a five-mile radius.

Therefore, the Kes and Riff-Raff director gets about two film questions before I start grilling him about the US-style election bout between President Brown and President Cameron.

"If it's a presidential contest, then God help us all", he said. "If there are two more unpleasant personalities, it's hard to think of them.

"One's a Tory boy and the other is a glowering right-winger. What a terrible choice."

Compelled by a sturdy dedication to socialism, the 73-year-old director has spent his life looking for stories in unfashionable places. Kes followed a boy destined for the coal mines who forms a friendship with a kestrel. Riff-Raff tracks an ex-con's new start on a building site. Bread and Roses focuses on poorly-paid LA janitors.

He said: "We try not to dwell on an individual area of social disaster, because you don't really learn much from that about the causes.

"We look to relate the way people live and reflect society as a whole. We try to find stories that ask questions about the structure of society and the way it's organised."

Many of his characters are sucked into pitfalls such as alcoholism, drugs and poor employment. So does he see any merit in the Conservative talk of "Broken Britain"?

"The people who talk about Broken Britain are the people that broke it", he said.

"The Tories accelerated and defined the split with the election of Margaret Thatcher and the attacks on the trade unions and working people in general. Your neighbour is no longer your ally, but a competitor."

Ken believes that the government missed a trick by not leashing nationalised banks to a more socially-responsible strategy when they were teetering during the downturn.

He said: "We took some of the banks into public ownership, but refused to invest in work with an environmental focus, on particular groups in need and in employing people on proper contracts.

"That's the ideological problem with New Labour. Their standpoint is that private is good and public is bad. They won't do what many of us feel they should do, which is to direct the investment to areas that benefit society."

This year's race in Poplar and Limehouse pits Labour incumbent Jim Fitzpatrick against candidates including Conservative Tim Archer and Respect's George Galloway.

A former Respect European candidate in 2004, Ken said: "I think in that situation I'd support George.

"He took a principled stand against the Iraq war, defended public services and opposed privatisation. He's someone that's willing to stand for a socialist perspective."

Ken strongly opposed the Iraq war himself , and he's focusing on this conflict in his next feature, a story of private contractors called Route Irish.

He said: "It's about the privatisation of war. I think it's a big issue that no one really talks about anymore."

The Wharf caught Ken in the editing studio working on the movie, which takes its name from the perilous road linking Baghdad airport to the Green Zone.

However, he said: "I don't know when it's going to come out. I don't know if it's any good yet. Maybe some time in the Autumn."

Talk from the set included whispers of a water-boarding scene in the shadow of Liverpool's Liver Building. So it may be a bleaker beast than last year's Looking for Eric, which paired Ken with esteemed former Manchester United footballer Eric Cantona.

Ken will be attending a screening of Looking for Eric at The Albany in Deptford next Wednesday (March 10). Critics loved his tale of two Erics - one a downtrodden postman, the other a philosophising footballer that encourages him to take chances. He said that one of the reasons he decided to attend the Urban Screen showing is that "The Albany is organised by people that care about politics".

He said: "It was a very enjoyable piece to do. We were all football fans, so we were living the dream by working with Eric.

"I don't know about the film as a whole. I'm still too close to make a judgement."

Despite directing stars such as Dustin Hoffman, Robert Duval and Robert Carlyle during his career, he's better known for coaxing natural performances out of unknown talent.
Consequently, it's hardly surprising to hear that he has a dim view of society's obsession with celebrity.

He said: "That's the way the press and TV has gone. It's all about who's hot at a particular time, whether that's a footballer or a footballer's wife.

"Everybody shakes their head in dismay, but it's the way big commercial projects have gone. It's all about the lowest common denominator and the next headline is even more tawdry, crude and childish. Some papers don't even qualify as newspapers anymore.

"They're just glorified gossip columns."

This year, when they're not babbling on about Cheryl and Ashley Cole, everyone will be talking about change. Britain is unlikely to end up with the sort of change that Ken Loach wants, but it won't be the first time that's happened.

He said: "There are big political issues we need to discuss. The only hope is if there's a resurgence of the left. That's the serious left, not the New Labour bad joke it's become."