Review: Scum
Blu-ray: Scum (1979)
Scum was a play before it was a film, and gained infamy because the late ‘great’ Mary Whitehouse thought it so abhorrent, she took the BBC to court over it, and won.
Made by the (truly) great Alan Clarke (Made in Britain, The Firm, Rita, Sue and Bob Too) Scum was made into a film in 1979 and became if anything, more infamous for its violence, racism and sexual violence.
It tells the somewhat brutal story of life in Borstal for young men in the 70s. Carlin (an unrecognisibly young Ray Winstone), who has taken the blame for his brother\’s theft of scrap metal, Angel (Alrick Riley) for stealing a car and Davis (Justin Firth) for escaping from another borstal, arrive at the institution and immediately all three are terrorized by Banks (John Blundell), the current \”Daddy\” (the inmate who controls the wing) and his cronies Eckersley (Ray Burdis) and Richards (Phil Daniels).
It’s more or less a violent borstal soap opera about a gang of lads who are sinking within the system. Perhaps the most surprising thing is that Carlin isn’t really the main character, he just pops in now and then to beat someone up and yell ‘I’m the daddy now’. The real star is Mick Ford as Archer, who plays the sort of narrator/voice of reason in the film. Telling ‘their’ side of the story to a warder, who ends up putting him on report for being insobordinate.
The violence retains its shock even now, the suicides are horrific and the rape scene has lost none of its brutality after 40 years. I admit I had to turn away as it\’s relentless (even the thought of \’Uncle Frank\’ (Sean Chapman) being the abuser didn’t help) and palpably horrific.
Before writing this, Dave insisted I say that it’s a good film (he\’s watched it many times since its initial release). Yes it IS good, perhaps dated and VERY one sided – all the screws/wardens without exception are uncaring, incapable, brutal and racist. If anything it is still an uncompromising watch and has lost none of its power.
As usual this Indicator release knocks it out the park with the extras, some old, some new, but ALL interesting and entertaining.
All in all a classic film, that still packs a punch and a slew of extras that make this an unmissable package.
-
2K restoration from the original negative, newly re-graded and approved by director of photography Phil Méheux
-
Original mono audio
-
Audio commentary with actor Ray Winstone and film critic Nigel Floyd (2006)
-
No Luxuries (2019, 20 mins): actor Mick Ford looks at his character of Archer and his working relationship with director Alan Clarke
-
An Outbreak of Acting (2019, 16 mins): actor Ray Burdis on returning to the role of Eckersley for the feature film
-
Smashing Windows (2019, 12 mins): actor Perry Benson recalls the daily experiences of being on set
-
Continuous Tension (2019, 18 mins): director of photography Phil Méheux analyses the documentary approach of his cinematography
-
Criminal Record (2019, 10 mins): associate producer Martin Campbell on remaking the banned teleplay for the big screen
-
Back to Borstal (2019, 32 mins): executive producer Don Boyd reflects on his efforts to reinvigorate British cinema in the late seventies
-
Concealing the Art (2019, 30 mins): veteran editor Michael Bradsell recalls collaborating with Alan Clarke
-
That Kind of Casting (2019, 22 mins): casting director Esta Charkham on the influence the Anna Scher Theatre had on production
-
Interview with Roy Minton and Clive Parsons (1999, 16 mins): the writer and producer look back on Scum twenty years after its release
-
Interview with Roy Minton (2005, 20 mins)
-
Interview with Davina Belling and Clive Parsons (2005, 9 mins): the producers of Scum discuss its transition from banned teleplay to feature film
-
Interview with Don Boyd (2005, 13 mins)
-
Cast Memories (2005, 17 mins): archival documentary featuring interviews with Phil Daniels, Julian Firth, Mick Ford and David Threlfall
-
Original ‘U’ and ‘X’ certificate theatrical trailers
-
Image gallery: promotional and publicity material
-
New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
-
Limited edition exclusive 80-page book with a new essay by Ashley Clark, recollections from cast and crew members, an archival on-set report by critic Michael Billington, executive producer Michael Relph’s viewing notes, archival interviews with director Alan Clarke, an extract from writer Roy Minton’s novelisation, a look at Mary Whitehouse’s High Court case over the film’s television broadcast, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and film credits
-
Limited edition exclusive double-sided poster
-
Limited Edition of 8,000 copies
Scum will be released on June 24th, 2019.
If you want to buy anything reviewed on our site (or anything at all!), then please use the Amazon link provided and help support us with our website and podcast. Thank you.
Review by Tina from a disc kindly supplied by Powerhouse Films.