It's A Free World

Synopsis: Angie (Kierston Wareing) works for a recruitment agency which sources cheap labour from Europe to work in Britain. When she is fired she takes the opportunity to set up her own agency. She teams up with flatmate Rose (Juliet Ellis), enlists the help of the local publican to use his outdoor area, and sets up a recruitment agency specialising in importing labourers from Eastern European countries, underpaying them, and pocketing the profits for herself. Battling in a man's world she will come up against all sorts of prejudice and standover tactics, but she is a perseverent and somewhat ruthless character.

Ah, Loach, you've done it again! Fans of this director will know the man specialises in what are often referred to as "gritty" dramas. The Wind That Shakes the Barley dealt with the Irish troubles, Sweet Sixteen with disaffected youth, My Name Is Joe with alcoholism and so on. His movies are anything but an uplifting experience, and yet he always manages to faithfully reflect some aspect of society's problems and present them in a way that enlightens and feels true.

It's A Free World is very much of the moment. The issue of immigrant workers, both legal and illegal, is large in Britain and studies have shown that 90% of low-paid workers are immigrants. But, as with all Loach films, not only are the issues interesting, but also the characters. The lead role is a big break for little-known actor, Kierston Wareing, who rises to the challenge of portraying an rather remarkable woman, one who gets on in a man's world, is every bit as ruthless and exploitative as her male competitors, but who fails to see that she is behaving in a morally reprehensible way. Angie is outspoken and spunky, uses a motor bike to go to her appointments, and uses men as she pleases along the way.

The directorial viewpoint towards the main character is nuanced, in that one finds Angie a likeable-enough character, and initially we empathise with her, as she is sacked after a sexual harassment incident. There is no overt condemnation of her, and yet, as we progressively realise just what she is up to, feathering her own nest at the expense of others, as the exploited becomes the exploiter, we start to look critically at both her and the capitalist system that gives rise to this type of self-serving person.

Rose is an interesting foil for Angie - a quiet and cautious type, but who ultimately lets herself get talked into things beyond her better judgment. Then there is Karol, (Leslaw Zurek) an immigrant Polish worker who has the nous to see he's being screwed by the system whilst being literally screwed by Angie.

Loach's actors often give the impression of having come straight off the street, as was Colin Caughlin playing Geoff, Angie's father, who has the task of raising Angie's kid, Jamie, a rebellious, aggressive and unhappy 12-year-old. Loach is equally well-known for his improvisatory techniques, and the relatively inexperienced actors rise extremely well to the situations in which they are placed.

Despite the serious nature of the subject matter, by having Angie be a sassy brash blonde, Loach injects an element of typically Brit lower-middle class humour into the proceedings, especially in the earlier part of the movie. As the tension hots up and things go sour for Angie, however the trademark Loachian grimness sets in, and one finds oneself caught up in his world view.

If not a set-the-world-on-fire film, It's A Free World is well worth going to see, both for its subject-matter and to see the Lord of Grit at his trade.

 

 

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