Great performances, great scenes. OK. But what a pity two important storylines are bungled at the end. Joe has started drinking again. Was it a one-shot or has he plunged again? Sarah doesn't want to see Joe again. What's the situation after the funeral? Maybe Mr Laverty thought Liam's death would solve everything for the better. But there's no reason for that. Too bad.
shareWere you expecting a hollywood ending?
shareNope...actually I thought that WAS the "hollywood ending."
I would have thought the drug dealer's thugs would have come up and killed Joe too while in his half drunken stupor and can't really figure out why they didn't do more to him...
...ah well pretty decent film in any rate, different, if nothing else! ;)
They wouldn't want involved in a death that was so public and linked to them. In a way Liam was trying to save Joe through his own death I guess.
shareit showed you why the drug dealer's didn't attack Joe they were freaked out by the suicide
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Brilliant film, watched it last night; great performance but Mullan of a tortured soul whose emotions unravel with this woman - maybe they do stay togather, they were not exactly avoiding each other, they walked side by side.
'Meet the new boss...Same as the old Boss'
yeah i guess this is the point of the film, the stuff that happened is pretty much daily life for the people that live in those sorts of areas. the stories of the characters continue after the credits..they walk away and life goes on. perhaps this is also a way for the film to heighten the sense of desperation, by telling us that in this world, often the only resolution to people's problems is death-ie sometimes the only ending is the one the film showed.
peter mullan and david mckay were superb i thought.
I too was disappionted by the ending - not that I was wanting or expecting a 'ties up all loose ends' ending, but more that the expected retribution for Joe was non-existant.
I can imagine the drug dealers leaving alone till another time after the suicide and with the imminent arrival of the police - but not in light of the fact that Joe had beaten up several of their number already, had assaulted the main dealer by punching his face and probably breaking his nose - then smashing up the bosses car!
So we are supposed to believe then, that this crew would be so "freaked out" by the sight of a kid committing suicide, and 'worried' about the arrival of the police that they would leave Joe alone? Absolute nonsense!
diamh, far from being absolute nonsense, the dealers scarpering after seeing Liam commit suicide was perfectly natural. They wouldn’t have been freaked out but McGowan and his gang aren’t drug lords portrayed in a high-budget mainstream flick; they’re middle-level thugs and acted accordingly, namely by saving their skin. Think about it. If they'd gone up there and turned over Joe straight after Liam committed suicide they could’ve been implicated in murder; McGowan would be pulled in and have to deal with a lot of unwanted heat. That’s not to say he wouldn’t mete out his vengeance later but then we’’re not given enough information about his character to know how he might react.
For all we know, McGowan may consider Liam’’s death sufficient retribution to call it quits – recall the scene in the snooker hall; it’s made clear McGowan and Joe have a history with one another and while the details of their past is sketchy, it’s not unfeasible that Joe’’s actions may have been overlooked; after all, a few broken noses and ribs and a smashed-up car does not equal a human life and McGowan and his gang aren’’t mercenaries, they’ are local gangsters whose sole interest is making money through drug-dealing. On the other hand, McGowan may have waited to take revenge on Joe but that remains unanswered because the film is left open-ended, and rightly so because My Name Is Joe is at its heart a film about Joe’’s relationship with Sarah, both of whom have complicated pasts. The film is about two people with polarised backgrounds trying to make their love work;– it’’s not about social / health services or the intricacies of the criminal underclass.
As you write yourself, “I can imagine the drug dealers leaving alone till another time…” and maybe they did. In any event, McGowan’’s crew’’s reaction was perfectly in keeping with a real-life scenario such as it went down in the film and so we are left to wonder if McGowan made a reprisal against Joe; perhaps Sarah never forgave Joe and he started drinking again; or, as I prefer to think, Joe and Sarah left Glasgow to rebuild their relationship and live elsewhere.
An excellent reply. Thanks very much.
Loach's film don't offer typical endings. They are about real lives, where there is no actual stopping point. Even the death of a character doesn't mean the end of the story for the people they influenced, the world they inhabited. Loach's films are authentic, about as authentic as is possible for a fictional drama to be.
I thought this film, including the ending, was very near his best. Certainly a favourite of mine.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Derekbd
Thank you derekbd1966,
Aside from loving Loach's films for their themes, he *embodies* that rare verisimilitude that few filmmakers are capable or willing to capture on film. This is one of my favourites, too.
You might have noticed I edited my original post, but I’ve only cleaned up my punctuation, which was appalling.
Suicide, it’s a suicide
"verisimilitude" Indeed, that is a perfect word for his films, but one I don't often use. :)
I just watched The Wind that Shakes the Barley this morning; funny it took me so long since it is one of his highest profile films, it seems. The biggest budget of any, even.
I really wasn't sure I wanted to watch a film about the Irish struggle of early 20th century, but as seems always the case, once I start watching a Ken Loach film I quickly care and become so invested in the people and enthralled by their struggles that I am once again in awe of his craft.
I'm set to see Carla's Song, Bread and Roses and Hidden Agenda.
Have you seen Oranges and Sunshine, directed by his son Jim? Quite a good film and an interesting contrast in father/son styles.
Punctuation is important. Carry on!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Derekbd
derekbd1966,
I’m frequently pulled-up (particularly on forums) for using words I’m accused of looking up in a Thesaurus. I put my ‘fair’ grasp of English language down to 30 years plus of personal film study (I love film literature and analysis as much as viewing).
I confess to not having got around to watching The Wind That Shakes The Barley but I’ll rectify that soon. Like you, virtually every Loach film I’ve seen draws me in and has me hooked. I prefer challenging films; anything outside the periphery of mainstream pulls me in, though my heart belongs to horror. To me, many of Loach’s films evoke the emotion of horror, though in cinematic lexicon such a stance is viewed as being unconventional.
To many, my tastes appear contradictory; whenever put on the spot I cite Stephen Thrower’s observation from his introduction to Eyeball Compendium: Sex & Horror, Art & Exploitation published by FAB Press:
The art film lover usually sneers at the crudities of exploitation cinema and likewise the gorehound usually scoffs at the pretensions of so-called art cinema. To me there's no need for this when the real enemy is the mainstream of commercial cinema.Words I both applaud and live by. Carla’s Song (disc 4 – The Ken Loach Collection: Volume 2); Bread&Roses (disc 7 – The Ken Loach Collection: Volume 1); and Hidden Agenda (disc 2 – The Ken Loach Collection: Volume 2) are all wonderful films. You’re clearly an appreciator and I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.
For a film to leave questions unanswered is not always a 'mistake'...
"It's not the years, honey, it's the mileage... "
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What a great ending! The film is brilliant in almost every way. Maybe slightly supassed by tyranaosaur only. Would you go up and do Jo over knowing the cops could turn up any moment considering a dead body hanging out a window
gareth
I agree it's a great film, but was left dissatisfied by the ending, purely that there were too many questions left unanswered.
But then, I hate Hollywood cutey-Yank saccharine endings.
Peter Mullan is on record as disliking the ending funnily enough. Think it was his interview at Cannes he says its ridiculous.
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