RIff Raff
Stevie, a Glaswegian construction worker, moves to London after recently being released from prison. He gets a job turning a derelict hospital into luxury apartments, and begins a romance with Susan, an unemployed pop singer.
Stevie (Robert Carlyle), a young Glaswegian just out of Barlinnie prison, comes down to London and gets a job on a building site -- a melting pot of itinerant labourers from all over the country -- where he has to contend with Mick the bossy ganger trying but usually failing to control his workers; three hilarious scousers, Shem, Mo and Larry (Ricky Tomlinson); and the other lads as they duck and dive through the rules and regulations of the building trade. In addition, Stevie has other problems to contend with: the wages are low, the site teems with rats, he has nowhere to sleep, and life in London isn't easy. One day on his way to work, Stevie finds a handbag in a skip. He returns it to its owner, Susan, a no-talent singer plagued by depression and neediness. As Stevie and Susan learn to live with the ups and downs of life on the edge, Riff-Raff builds a portrait, often funny, of life as it is lived in the margins. Ken Loach's camera follows the workers unobtrusively as they relax in the squats and pubs, revealing, in their gallows humour, the fatalism of those who feel they've been forgotten by the society they inhabit. An absolute classic, bittersweet comedy/drama from director Ken Loach whose political content is still as relevant now as it was in the Thatcher era.
Stevie (Robert Carlyle), a young Glaswegian just out of Barlinnie prison, comes down to London and gets a job on a building site -- a melting pot of itinerant labourers from all over the country -- where he has to contend with Mick the bossy ganger trying but usually failing to control his workers; three hilarious scousers, Shem, Mo and Larry (Ricky Tomlinson); and the other lads as they duck and dive through the rules and regulations of the building trade. In addition, Stevie has other problems to contend with: the wages are low, the site teems with rats, he has nowhere to sleep, and life in London isn't easy.
One day on his way to work, Stevie finds a handbag in a skip. He returns it to its owner, Susan, a no-talent singer plagued by depression and neediness. As Stevie and Susan learn to live with the ups and downs of life on the edge, Riff-Raff builds a portrait, often funny, of life as it is lived in the margins.
Ken Loach's camera follows the workers unobtrusively as they relax in the squats and pubs, revealing, in their gallows humour, the fatalism of those who feel they've been forgotten by the society they inhabit. An absolute classic, bittersweet comedy/drama from director Ken Loach whose political content is still as relevant now as it was in the Thatcher era.
Festivals
Prix Italia - Winner of the Special Prix Italia
Cannes Film Festival - Winner of the FPRESCI Prize
European Film Awards - Winner of European Film of the Year
European Film Awards - Nomination for Supporting Actor of the Year
Goya Awards - Nomination for the Best European Film
Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists - Nomination for the European Silver Ribbon
BAFTA Awards Scotland - Nomination for Best Actor
Reviews and More“Laced with humor, this is a humanistic tribute to the survival with dignity of the British working class” – Emanuel Levy
“Riff-Raff is a comedy/drama with a ferocious social conscience.” – Austin Chronicle
“Comedy doesn’t cut much closer to the bone.” – Entertainment Weekly
