August 26, 2008

7:00 pm

Two More by Loach
free
details here:
http://www.loc.gov/rr/mopic/pickford/pickford-current.html

Ladybird Ladybird (Parallax Pictures, U.K., 1994). Dir Ken Loach. Wrt Rona Munro. With Crissy Rock, Vladimir Vega, Sandie Lavelle, Mauricio Venegas., Ray Winstone. (101 min, color, 35mm)

At the 1994 Berlin Film Festival, actress Crissy Rock won the Silver Bear award for her role as Maggie Conlan, an unmarried and abused British woman who fights with Social Services over the care of her children. Maggie, who has children from four different partners, bounces from one violent relationship to the next, unable to escape a pattern of domestic abuse. One night, she carelessly leaves her children alone at home and they are hurt in a fire. The incident is brought to the attention of Social Services and they take Maggie’s kids away, deeming she is an unfit mother. Maggie struggles to gain custody of her children, but is unsuccessful. One day she meets Jorge, a Paraguayan expatriate who is non-violent and a caring man. In time, Maggie and Jorge develop a positive relationship and begin to start a family. While Maggie finally appears to have achieved stability and happiness with Jorge, her personal life and his is turned up-side down when Social Services intervenes again and removes their new-borne child. Based on a true story, Ladybird Ladybird undoubtedly stands as one of Ken Loach’s most critically acclaimed and engaging docu-dramas. (KT)

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