Really great movie. Simple story, well told, well filmed. It made me remember of the silent kids in the class, who never tell stories, who are always reluctant to participate and who always seem forgotten unless there's trouble. It makes me think of the people I know who gone through shit, and never had support to learn to cope with it. It's satisfying to see the old teachers and authority figures being so pathetic and ignorant, yet trying. They seem to be aware that they can't help these boys escaping from a sad life, and seem as convinced of their uselessness as the kids.
Many movies and books have caught the suffering and pride and the hopes and despairs of mining towns, but none as naturally as this one.
There are wonderful moments of kindness that warm up the whole movie. There's the confirmation that there's something out there for all of us, an activity in which we can get lost, feel that flow.
The kid acts really well! And he fits so well in the story, his skinny body, his small eyes, his expression of being used to injustice and confusion, but still sensitive. He feels always out of place except when he is with his bird or tells about it.
Similar feeling as 'my childhood' (<!-- m --><a href="https://www.icheckmovies.com/movies/my+childhood/" target="_blank">https://www.icheckmovies.com/movies/my+childhood/</a><!-- m -->)
ps: I love the accents, many movies seem to be scared of it, but it offers so much: diversity, immersion, realism...

David Bradley’s performance as Billy Casper is incredible. There is something magical about the fringes of a town where it meets the country, where space opens out and a different kind of solitude becomes possible.

Makes Billy Elliot look like Cinderella.

In all seriousness, it is superb cinema.