Agent Orange
Largely forgotten today, the first of two films Ken Loach made about The Troubles generated headlines at the time for a nasty spat at a press conference between Alexander Walker and Loach. As the snappy title suggests it's the nearest thing Loach ever made to a conventional thriller, and although Loach is no Costa-Gavras or Alan Pakula it hold the attention.
Loach inevitably subscribes to the conspiracy rather than the cock-up theory of history, witness the speech that Thatcher's elevation was deliberately engineered rather than simply luck; and he puts a crass and patronising observation about the Irish in a high-ranking Tory's mouth.
A good cast rather surprisingly includes Mai Zetterling making a rare late appearance as an actor in a oddly small part.
Loach inevitably subscribes to the conspiracy rather than the cock-up theory of history, witness the speech that Thatcher's elevation was deliberately engineered rather than simply luck; and he puts a crass and patronising observation about the Irish in a high-ranking Tory's mouth.
A good cast rather surprisingly includes Mai Zetterling making a rare late appearance as an actor in a oddly small part.
- richardchatten
- 25 sept 2022