If first time script writer Rob Dawber hadn't torn a tendon falling off a sand dune on holiday in 1996, The Navigators may never have materialised. It prompted him to write to director Ken Loach about his experiences working on the railways for eighteen years in Sheffield. As a union rep he worked through privatisation until 1997. While the changes were being made, concerns of safety and working conditions were being ignored, and so the idea of dramatising the issues was born largely out of frustration. This is the story of a group of railtrack workers who are faced with voluntary redundancy' and all it's contradictions. The conditions they have to work within, forces out an incongruous humour that naturally comes from oppressive and terrible situations, but their situation also leads inevitably to disaster. Loach is not particularly renowned for his aesthetically pleasing images in some circles, and the humour often comes with a callous edge. His films are just too near the knuckle for some people to be entertained by them. Those who do not want to be made aware of issues' are the most disdainful, but they miss out, if they are interested in film at all, in terms of Loach's fantastic ability to inspire the most naturalistic performances, by actors, and non actors especially. Again, some of these faces are entirely unknown, other than the Full Monty's Steve Huison, but because of this, the characters are thoroughly believable. The interaction between them is awkward sometimes, disjointed, the dialogue does not run smoothly, and you get an impression of real life friction as a result. As producer Rebecca O'Brien says, It gives a real veracity to the story being told.' Similarly, designer Martin Johnson says that the ultimate aim is to make it look so real that no one can see there has been any design'. In this sense Loach just becomes stronger the more he does.
Review of The Navigators
