Raining Stones
Dir: Ken Loach
1993
*****
Along with Riff-raff and Naked, to name just a couple, Raining Stones marks a rather special time in film. Early 90's realism like this really got me into film. Seeing the beauty in not just every day things but in the down-trodden and desperate. When people think of little Britain and classic British film, everyone remembers Scum and Made in Britain that came before and Nil by Mouth that came after but they forget these overlooked gems. These are the films that really portray a slice of Britain that was/are real and many people can relate to. Ken Loach is a great director, everything he does is full of passion and good nature, no victim is ever victimised either which when you look back at, is unfortunately not the case in many films of the era. These people are where they are by no fault of their own, aren't drug takers of thugs. Maybe this is why he picked non-actors in the main roles, it's hard to believe that this was Bruce Jones's first role. Both he and Ricky Tomlinson had colourful lives before acting; Bruce Jones discovered the body of murdered prostitute Jean Jordan, a victim of the Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe and Ricky Tomlinson was a militant trade unionist. In 1973 he was imprisoned for 15 months for organising flying pickets as part of a building workers' strike. This only adds to the realism and charm. An overlooked great.