Main Cast: Robert Carlyle, Emer McCourt, Jimmy Coleman, George Moss, Willie Ross, Ricky Tomlinson
Release Year: 1991
Country: UK
Run Time: 96 minutes
Plot
Socialist-leaning British director Ken Loach kicked off a decade's worth of acclaimed cinema with this surprisingly comic tale of working class laborers at a North London building site, written by Bill Jesse, a real-life construction worker who died before the film's release. Scottish ex-con Stevie (Robert Carlyle) finds work on a non-union crew converting a hospital into luxury condos. Like most of his coworkers, Stevie is homeless and finds a place to live by squatting in an abandoned building. The crew is exploited by its supervisors and endures unsafe conditions, and pay is so low that the men use false names so that they won't have to pay taxes. Stevie discovers a lost handbag, and when he returns it to the owner, a spacey hopeful singer named Susan (Emer McCourt), he falls in love. He and Susan are soon living together -- then Stevie discovers that his girlfriend is a habitual drug user. Meanwhile, the most outspoken worker, Larry (Ricky Tomlinson) loses his job when he questions authority once too often. Loach cast only actors who had construction experience in the film, kicking off the career of Carlyle, who later surged to stardom in The Full Monty (1997). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
Review
Ken Loach's Riff Raff is set on a construction site where a hospital is being gutted to make way for condos for the upper-middle class. Stevie, a Scottish ex-con, takes a job at the site where he encounters an odd assortment of characters who, like him, are looking for a new lease on life. Unable to afford rent on a flat, Stevie's co-workers set him up in a squat not far from the job site. On the job, scams abound as the workers desperately try to make ends meet. Stevie's luck takes a turn for the better when he meets Susan, an aspiring singer with plenty of moxie but little talent. Stevie and Susan find solace from their troublesome lives in each other but their relationship is not enough to overcome the powerful social momentum of their class. Loach and his superb cast, all experienced construction workers themselves, manage to capture the humor that makes working-class life bearable without dulling the biting social commentary that's the film's central message. ~ Brian Whitener, All Movie Guide
David Finch - Kevin; Richard Belgrave - Kojo; Ade Sapara - Fiaman; Bill Moores - Smurph; Tracy Brabin - Singer; Brian Coyle - Youth; Debra Gillett - Singer; Bill Jesse; Jimmy Jewel - Pub Band; Angela Morant - Estate Agent; Peter Mullan - Jake; Terry Duggan - Boss in office; James MacDonald - Funeral Director
Credit
Ken Loach - Director, Jonathan Morris - Editor, Stewart Copeland - Composer (Music Score), Martin Johnson - Production Designer, Barry Ackroyd - Cinematographer, Sally Hibbin - Producer, Bill Jesse - Screenwriter
As with most Loach films, Riff-Raff is a naturalistic portrayal of modern Britain. It follows Stevie, played by Robert Carlyle, a Glaswegian recently released from prison who has moved to London and got a job on a building site turning old houses into luxury apartments.
