Ladybird, Ladybird is one of Ken Loach's most dramatic working class drama's. The use of melodrama to put across political points about the oppression of middle-class systems on the working-classes is subtly brilliant.
After watching the film I was very depressed for quite a while.
Although I was obviously traumatised by social services taking not just one but two of Maggie and Jorge's children shortly and immediately after birth, I couldn't decide if it was somehow her own fault. If you leave your four children alone in a hostel and one of them nearly dies in a fire can you really expect to be deemed capable of providing a 'safe' environment for children? Her rage about this judgement of self it seems is immense. She cannot as Jorge suggests 'talk nicely' to anyone. The frustration of her being trapped by her circumstance of class is evident.
That said, I think it was very harsh of social services to condemn the women to be without children for the rest of her life, people can change and with Jorge it seems that she does find a more stable centre but the pain of the loss will never fade.
I hope that the real Maggie and Jorge find peace and are one day reunited with their 'lost' children. The fact that this film has been based on real life makes it even more heartbreaking.
Not the cheeriest of films but one that you should watch at some point in your lifetime and form your own views. It's very thought provoking which is what Loach intends his films to be.
After watching the film I was very depressed for quite a while.
Although I was obviously traumatised by social services taking not just one but two of Maggie and Jorge's children shortly and immediately after birth, I couldn't decide if it was somehow her own fault. If you leave your four children alone in a hostel and one of them nearly dies in a fire can you really expect to be deemed capable of providing a 'safe' environment for children? Her rage about this judgement of self it seems is immense. She cannot as Jorge suggests 'talk nicely' to anyone. The frustration of her being trapped by her circumstance of class is evident.
That said, I think it was very harsh of social services to condemn the women to be without children for the rest of her life, people can change and with Jorge it seems that she does find a more stable centre but the pain of the loss will never fade.
I hope that the real Maggie and Jorge find peace and are one day reunited with their 'lost' children. The fact that this film has been based on real life makes it even more heartbreaking.
Not the cheeriest of films but one that you should watch at some point in your lifetime and form your own views. It's very thought provoking which is what Loach intends his films to be.