Scum

Scum was originally apart of a trilogy that writer Roy Minton and Director Alan Clarke thought of whilst they were making Funny Farm in 1975. It consisted three films that focused individually on Police training, Army Training and Borstal. They approached a number of backers however it was deemed to costly to make therefore the idea was cancelled. However one backer did put up the money for one of these to be made. Clarke and Minton immediately went for Scum.

The television version of Scum is probably the most famous TV movie to be made in great Britain. This is quite a feat because the vast majority of people will not have seen this TV movie. They will be more aware of the 1979 feature film version. Either way whatever one you see you will be left breathless and shocked at what unveils before our eyes over 78 mins this beautiful bounty runs.

The story is set in one of her majesties Borstals in which underage criminals are dealt with. The lynch pin in the story manifests itself in the form of Carlin played to perfection by the ever wonderful Ray Winstone. Whose arrival at the Borstal from day one sends reverberations around the Borstals corridors because of his previous status as the Daddy in his last Borstal. He arrives with two other inmates Davis and Angel. Davis is instantly the target of bullies and Angel is abused through racial taunts because he is black. They are instantly greeted with physical and verbal abuse from the warders. As the film opens we meet the other trainees (inmates) and we begin to realize that they are far from the criminal hooligans that we would expect them to be. They are lost and vulnerable. They are abused by the people that are there to look after them. In all this comes the supporting character Archer played by David Threfall. An intellectual anarchist whose hours are passed pretending to be vegetarian and not wearing leather shoes on his feet. The Warders are portrayed as ruthless in bullying going so far as to show one of them watch on and let a rape continue.

Alan Clarke established his notoriety with this TV Movie and he continued to provoke the audience with his further films. Clarke is a bona fide realist in my mind he portrays individuals who are thrown into extraordinary circumstances and he his never afraid to pull a punch to create the genuine feeling of realism in his films. Only Ken Loach and scotch director John Mac Kenzie have this effect. But Alan Clarke is in my favourite I have yet to see a film of his that does not effect me.

The only problem I had with it was that it was not cast as well as the film version which has quality performances from non-actors. But all in all a bloody good show.

This film was to show the horrors of a typical British Reform School, complete with regular beatings, humiliations, and even a rape scene. Sadistic staff and a team of violent and intimidating "daddys" terrorize the weak and timid members of the roughly 100 detainees. Racism and hypocrisy are in full gear. This is the Jr. Version of "Glass House", only even more graphic.

This film is very difficult to watch and was actually banned by the BBC to ever be broadcast due to the extreme violence and shocking situations. Although I watched to the end, I just don't quite see the value (especuially for entertainment) in this fictional nightmare. Perhaps as a "Scared Straight" project it could deter at-risk children from a life of crime. Otherwise any slasher movie will do less emotional damage to an impressionable mind. I do not recommend this film

This is the TV version of the film, which was made for 'Play For Today' but was never screened until 1991, as it was deemed too controversial. It isn't as good as the movie version, which unsurprisingly was free to be even more uncompromising, yet it is still very similar plot-wise. Still very much an excellent watch and interesting to compare.

Alan Clarke's film introduced us to a powerful new talent in Ray Winstone. Undeniably brutal but an allegory on the worship of simple governance by power. This film, coupled with another film, "Made in Great Britain" with Tim Roth was an indictment of the Thatcher type anti-society policies. Ray Winstone builds his part slowly, gathering power and authority during his stay in the institution and is climaxed when he says "who's the daddy now?" It was such a powerful performance that I always wait with anticipation his next outing and have rarely been disappointed.

Scum (1977) was originally produced as part of the BBC's Play for Today series, but the result, shot in a gritty docu-drama style, was considered too harrowing for broadcast and was effectively banned. Two years later, director Alan Clarke remade his play as a film, which became one of the most talked about movies in British school playgrounds during the early 80s thanks to its unrelenting violence, racist language, and a particularly notorious rape scene.

So, how do the two versions compare? Well, barring one or two minor scenes, the original TV play and the 1979 film are almost identical to each other in terms of basic content and structure, with much of the same dialogue, many of the same cast members, and Clarke using the same set-ups and angles for his shots. However, the two versions do differ from each other in terms of performances: although the cast are more than adequate in the TV version, the play feels a bit like a dress rehearsal when compared with the movie, the cast seemingly still working out how best to tackle their roles. Two years down the line, and everybody absolutely nails it, but here there are one or two performances that fall a little flat.

That said, the play is still a fine piece of work, a powerful and highly controversial drama—one that, to this day, I find it hard to believe the BBC even contemplated showing in 1977.