Ray & Liz

It may be dour, but the film is also vital, edgy and progressive. It also must be noted that it’s very funny at times, in a brutal human comedy sort of way ('Good Thing' by Fine Young Cannibals plays over the end credits). To be put off by the uncomfortable themes, unglamorous urban location and prevailing sense of gloom that permeates ‘Ray & Liz’ would be a big mistake. This drama crackles with angry energy, and reflects how grim life really was and, unfortunately, still can be for large parts of the population. - Jake Watt Read Jake's full article...…

I think part of my problem with this is that having grown up in a room and kitchen in a 1970s Glasgow tenement where we bathed in the sink, once a week, in water freshly boiled from the kettle atop the metred gas stove, I find these “northern” (English) tales of woe and misfortune all a bit melodramatic. Compared to previous generations, these Brummies don’t know they are born as they live in housing estates resourced to a level we could only have ever dreamed of a few years earlier. Are they the cause of their own deprivation or has it ground whatever spirit they did have out of them? Well…