Movie Review: Scum

Director: Alan Clarke
Starring: Ray Winstone, Mick Ford, Julian Firth, John Blundell
UK Release Date: 12 September 1979
Tardy Review Date: 12 February 2011
Format: DVD


A hard-hitting story of the 70s English borstal system

Scum is not the sort of film you want to watch for a little light relief.  I'd heard good things about it, and had been meaning to watch it for years, but when it arrived through the post it took me a while to put it in the player.  I knew it was going to be a dark, brutal film and that's not necessarily something you want to be watching when you're trying to relax after work.  When I did bite the bullet, though, I was glad I had.

The film is about a group of youths in the English borstal system in the late 70s.  Ray Winstone plays the main character, Carlin, a tough kid who's been moved from a different borstal for hitting one of the guards.  The story follows his rise to power in his new surroundings and, in doing so, paints a horrific picture of the way the institution is run by the authorities.

Life in the borstal is filled with violence and racism, which the guards and house master not allow to continue unpunished but positively encourage.  The guards often turn a blind eye to a beating, as this is the way control is maintained, and generally enforce their will through violence themselves.  The opening scene shows two guards questioning Carlin, threatening him, beating him up and then berating him for dropping his bedclothes as a result.  This kind of bullying is consistent throughout the film and it's clear the guards and the institution have no intention of reforming any of the boys but rather using it to give them a sense of power.  The house master positively encourages the hierarchy system, giving privileges to Carlin once he reaches the status of 'the daddy' and using him as a figurehead.

The governor makes occasional appearances as a supposedly moral figure, dishing out punishments and promoting Christianity.  His punishments, though, are based on the judgements of the guards, which we know to be spurious and suspect the governor knows this, too.  Also, his decisions about what's right or wrong seem as erratic and unfair as those of his staff.  Despite his proclamations about the importance of religion, he shows no forgiveness or signs of compassion and it seems pretty clear the borstal's violence is something he would deny, yet consciously allows to continue.

Those boys who can't cope with the tough regime and genuinely need help are ignored or, worse, punished severely by the guards.  This is where the cruelty of the regime is harshest, as they ask for help from the various staff and are coldly pushed aside or beaten up.  This leads to a few of the films toughest scenes, and yet still the men and women in charge show no signs of caring.

Winstone is obviously the key character here, and puts in a good performance, but much of the films strength comes from its ensemble cast.  I listed four of the key characters above, but I could easily have listed 20.  The young actors are particularly impressive and, without exception, give performances that are convincing and realistic.  One I have to pick out is Mick Ford who plays Archer, an intellectual inmate who tries to resist the violent system and ends up receiving more punishment than the bullies.  The adults, too, are completely believable in their roles, which makes the whole thing that much harder to bear.  The film is pervaded by a gritty realism that simply couldn't be sustained without such a strong cast.  It's easy to believe that this is how borstals operated when the film was made and, apparently, it was only allowed back on TV after the system had been reformed, which speaks volumes about the terrible truths portrayed here.