“I’m Not A Man…I’m Cantona”

Since the new and upcoming football season is soon to start, what better way to celebrate this on my Blog then review a football related film that has a lot of heart into it. When you’re talking about films/ directors that fit into the coined term of the ‘Kitchen Sink’, I don’t think anyone can disagree with me when I say that Ken Loach is a definite example of someone who applies true realism into a film. Ranging from the works of Cathy Come Home to Kes through to Raining Stones, there’s no doubt that a common element in these Ken Loach film examples is raw, striking realism. Everything you see from his films is natural; ordinary to the point that you stop looking at the narrative of the film unfold, and instead you look at how the characters talk, how they think, and how the events of the films feel random and unexpected, just like how life is. With than set in place, Loach still manages to construct and set out these moments and characters to tell a natural, coherent, relatable story. When it comes to Loach’s 2009 tale of Looking For Eric, while it is a filmic piece that is obviously aimed at football fans, more specifically the Man Utd supporters due to the fact that it heavily features United legend Cantona with his best moments and his philosophical gestures, again, it’s piece of Loach art that not only portrays the realism in this film in a gritty fashion, but it’s a story that has a lot of charm to it. Throughout the film, you always want to see the main character, Eric, succeed in what he’s faced and left with in his life.

Ever since his wife (Stephanie Bishop) left him, Postman and football fanatic Eric Bishop (Steve Evets) has had a life that has fallen down the piping order. His two teen stepsons (Gerald Kearns, Stefan Gumbs) have little regard for him. His job at the post office is increasingly unfulfilling and eventually ends up at the hospital after a car crash. After being miserable and smoking marijuana in the night, Eric has a vision of his favourite Manchester United football player: Eric Cantona. With the help from his footballing idol and his daughter (Lucy-Jo Hudson), Eric strives to not only get his life straightened out, but also the lives of his former wife and his two stepsons.

Now before I go ahead and talk about what I think about Looking For Eric in terms of what it has to offer, I think it’s best that I go ahead and briefly talk about what ‘Kitchen Sink realism’ signifies just in case if someone who is reading this review doesn’t know what this means and stands for and it is something that Ken Loach has always had in his films, so in a way it’s a responsibility on my hand to talk about what it is. So the actual term ‘kitchen sink’ originated from a expressionist painting which was critiqued in showing a new interest among young painters in domestic scenes, with stress of the banality of life. Near the time of early 60’s, John Osborne’s play ‘Look Back in Anger’ carried on this way of emphasizing this social alienation; where the hero would be working in a manual occupation due to the claustrophobia and frustrations of a provincial life on low incomes. The impact of this work eventually allowed British cinema to be caught up in this artistic movement which associated with showing the trials and errors of a low income life. Film-makers ranging from the likes of Lindsay Anderson, Karel Reisz and Tony Richardson, amongst others, created confrontational films that expressed the lives of the urban working-class demographic that faced hardships and tried to find ‘freedom’. Controversial films like Karel Reisz’s Saturday Night and Sunday Morning and Tony Richardson’s A Taste of Honey are notable examples of what the British New Wave tried to show. While eventually this movement died off coming near the early 70’s, there were a few film-makers in this present day and recent past that make films that show the grittiness of British life. Of course one good example of a film/Director that portrays Britain realistically in a modern setting is Shane Meadows and his film of This Is England. However, what is really interesting and fun to see, is in fact Ken Loach, who is still directing, who made this football fairy-tale in Looking For Eric.

What I really appreciate the most out of this film and in some way does comment on past ‘kitchen sink’ films, is how authentic everything looks and feels. Although this might come across as though I’m nitpicking, When it comes watching a film that features a film-star that I know of in terms of what films he/she has done in the past, I do sort of get an idea of what character they’ll play as. With that sometimes in my head when watching a film, it can sometimes be predictable and sometimes boring for my viewing experience. Not to say that this happens all the time when I sit down to watch a movie, but does occur once and a while. With this however, I got none of that whatsoever. Despite one actor I might have seen before, I honestly don’t think I’d seen the main actors perform in anything else to my recollection. With that though, it really does add to this authenticity that Loach has been doing for years. Due to the fact I didn’t know any of  the other actors, for me as I was watching the narrative unfold, all of the events that took place were certainly unexpected and at not one moment did I think any of the story elements were predictable. Being that I am a Mancunian, for me it isn’t that hard to understand what the characters are saying being that the majority of the characters have very strong Manc accents. In all seriousness, it would be a laughing field-day to see what the U.S audience would make of this film and the characters with their strong accents. But it was like I just mentioned just before, it certainly adds to the natural feel that this film gives off. It’s not as if it’s someone from America or somewhere else trying to act as if they’re from Manchester. The only thing that I think spoils this idea of authenticity of the film is the sequence when Eric and his Man Utd friends raid the house of a gang member. For reviewing purposes I’m not going to spoil anything from the story, but I was wincing at the fact that if that happened in real-life, I’m not too sure it the raid would go perfectly as it does in the film. I’m just saying, the police would be onto that very quickly. Other than that though, Loach as always manages to create a authentic looking film throughout.

Obviously, being that this film does feature Eric Cantona, I think it’s necessary to talk about the football related stuff and whether or not it works as a concept that underlines the story throughout. It’s really easy to say that Man Utd will love watching this film being that it appeals to the much older United fans who watched Cantona like the Manc Eric in the film as he ‘reflects’ on Cantona’s arguably best moments for United like the beautiful chip against Sunderland and the innovative pass he created for Irwin to score against Spurs. What certainly works in favour of this motif of football that is added into the film, is how it’s not a film that is directly aimed at the Man Utd supporters, but instead, it’s aimed at the general football lovers. The reason why football lovers, who all support their own teams, will also attach to this film is how it can bring about hope and freedom which is seen through the character of Eric. There are multiple occasions where we see Eric in dire-straits due to the situation that he’s in with his stepsons and the awkwardness of seeing his former wife again. But the one thing that arguably makes him happy and makes him strive to be a better person is the memories of watching Man Utd and seeing Cantona. I think through this, it’s easy to understand why football in general is so popular is due to the fact that for some, it makes you forget about your problems or struggles, it’s a sport that allows you to express yourself and be free of what problems you might have. For the Manc Eric, football is way that he can hope again; hope that he can make amends for what he’s done and get his life turned to the better side.

Being that football, as a film concept, can be a hit or a miss as it sometimes can fall down a cliche path, Looking For Eric is a piece of filmic work that certainly falls into the higher bracket of the better football related films. While it does have this cliche way of uplifting the main character to resolve the problems that he’s got, the one asset that Looking For Eric has got and that everyone can appreciate, is it’s authenticity of the setting, the characters and to some extent the narrative. Truly,Looking For Eric is a good example of a contemporary ‘kitchen sink’ film; but what makes this film feel a bit different and special, is it’s charming way of integrating football as an idea of hope and freedom.

And on that beautiful yet corny note, it’s time to end this review. As always everyone, thank you for reading my latest film review. If you enjoyed reading what I have had to say on Looking For Eric, then you’re more then welcome to comment down below if you have an opinion on the film or the review that I have done. Just a quick note before I do indeed sign off. I may have another Blog Post up later this week which will again be football related. If you have been reading my Blog Posts for over a year now, you might know what this may be leading to. But for those who don’t, well, you’ll have to wait and see. It is football related so if you like you’re football, then make sure you keep visiting my Blog. Again, thank you for reading my content and i’ll see you all very soon. LATERS!! 🙂

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ – Alex Rabbitte