Struck by the identical opening scenes between Scum and Loneliness OTLDR, I realised the two films share the same root. Loneliness achieves its ends in gentler ways, granted, but both are essays on the internalisation of liberty, personal versus state power and maintainance of personal identity in dehumanising regimes. Both must surely rank alongside British greats such as If and A Clockwork Orange.
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LOTLDR has a more universal resonance perhaps; SCUM is Alan Clarke's scathing critique of the ghastly borstal system at work in the late 70's and early 80's. It's pretty grim viewing at times but I don't think Alan Clarke ever did things gratuitously. It needed to be shocking and it was, and things did change. The only other recent film I'd like to mention here would be Michael Winterbottom and Matt Whitecross's film The Road to Gauntanamo. It seems these themes are timely in whatever decade a film is made, sadly.
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Totally with you there. If you are seeking a 60's culture clash film look no further than Lindsay Anderson's 'If'. Travis, like Smith in LOTLDR and Carlin in Scum refuses to conform and takes matters to a bloody conclusion. I doubt it gets shown much on cable networks sensitive to shootings such as Columbine, it is a true great of British cinema nonetheless. Visionary, controversial, subversive. Travis can't belong to a culture and hierarchy that to him is sterile, corrupt, decrepid. Those that do very well out of this system, namely the ones in authority, are naturally challenged and provoked by Travis and seek to tame him. Absurdity and surrealism are never far when dealing with a society that encourages militarism and espirit de corps, effectively consigning young people to conformity and death. 'If' is the quintessential rebel film for me. There's fleeting joy in seeing out this individualistic urge against the current, but ultimately the system will win. The film asks you which side you are on, and you have to decide internally where you stand. If the smart money is on the system always winning, then you decide how much to show your hand. V for Vendetta, One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest, Blake's 7, The Prisoner, Easy Rider, Taxi Driver...the list goes on. The Rebel with a thousand faces is every film viewer who has ever dreamed of taking on the system and walking away in tact. In real life very few of us set ourselves up in direct opposition to society but rebellion dreams and a rebel image can be big box office. Think Star Wars, Avatar, Titanic - they all involve doing the right thing by throwing off the shackles of authority and conformity. I didn't feel particularly rebellious toward anything when I left the moviehouse but I'd had my fix of rebellion during the film and was quite glad to be back in my niche of society when I emerged...Not sure if that means I've been lobotomised like Mcmurphy in One Flew Over...or I just take most Hollywood cinematic rebellion with a large pinch of salt.
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