Riff-Raff (1991)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Ken Loach

Writer:

Bill Jesse (writer)

Release Date:

12 February 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

The story of Stevie, a construction worker, and his girlfriend, an unemployed pop singer, serves to...

Plot Keywords:

Actual Animal Killed | Political | Building Laborer | Independent Film

Awards:

3 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Robert Carlyle	...	Steve
Emer McCourt	...	Susan
Richard Belgrave	...	Kojo
Jim R. Coleman	...	Shem
David Finch	...	Kevin
Garrie J. Lammin	...	Mick
Dean Perry	...	Wilf
George Moss	...	Mo
Willie Ross	...	Gus Siddon
Ade Sapara	...	Fiaman
Ricky Tomlinson	...	Larry
Derek Young	...	Desmonde
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
David Alder	...	Director
Dominic Barlow	...	Pianist
Jimmy Batten	...	Man buying Kango
Terry Bird	...	Van driver
Tracy Brabin	...	Singer
Maureen Carr	...	Ellen
Lila Cherif	...	Client
Martin Clapson	...	Pub Band
Tex Comer	...	Pub Band
Brian Coyle	...	Youth
Les Davidson	...	Pub Band
Terry Duggan	...	Boss in office
Zohra El Harrack	...	Client
Joumana Gil	...	Client
Debra Gillett	...	Singer
Mike Haydon	...	Security Guard
Jimmy Jewel	...	Pub Band
John Kazek	...	Robert
Luke Kelly	...	Ken Jones
Benjamin Lush	...	Singer
James MacDonald	...	Funeral Director
Jayne Charlton McKensie	...	Singer (as Jayne MacKenzie)
Bill Moores	...	Smurph
Angela Morant	...	Estate Agent
Peter Mullan	...	Jake
Johanne Murdock	...	Singer
Vicky Murdock	...	Medical Secretary
Dylan O'Mahony	...	Youth
Stuart Peveril	...	Youth
Len Stonebridge	...	Pub Band
David Taegar	...	Producer
Anne Marie Timoney	...	Fiona

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Australia:M | Finland:K-14 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:Open (rating surrendered: 1992) | USA:R (original rating: 1992)

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company:

Channel Four Films

Quotes:

Steve: This laboring, it's only temporary... Laboring, crap, boxer shorts... good.

Soundtrack:

I'm So Exited

Quasi-documentary brilliant social commentary

I've always been astonished by Ken Loach's ability to make me forget that these are actors that I'm watching, or that this is a movie on a set, etc. The characters in this film are so real, so lifelike, that it was almost like watching a documentary. The film very wisely employs subtitles for the English dialogue, much or most of which would be unintelligible to an American audience.

Several of the reviews I have read of this film call it a comedy. Well, although there are one or two comic scenes, to me this is far from a comedy. This is a bitter and biting howl of rage against the plight of the working class in the UK. These men are used and exploited by their employers. There is no doubt that these construction sites would be cited for safety violations, or even closed down, if they were in the USA. and the owner-managers might well be prosecuted, since their willful negligence ultimately results in a death. What is lacking in the British working class, if this film is any guide, is any sense of upward mobility, any hope, any sense that I can make it out of this and find a better life. The one exception to this is the protagonist's girl friend, who is a monumentally untalented aspiring singer, and in her case we don't feel that there is much hope either.