Kes

Billy Casper is a teenage boy living in Barnsley, a mining town in Yorkshire, where little in his life offers encouragement. His mother pays him scant attention, his older brother Jud bullies him, and school brings him trouble with both classmates and teachers. He gets by through small errands and petty thefts. He finds a young kestrel and raises it, teaching himself falconry from a borrowed book, and names the bird Kes. Devoting himself to the hawk gives his days a purpose, and when his English teacher takes an interest and invites him to speak to the class, Billy manages to hold his classmates' attention.

Ken Loach directed and co-wrote the screenplay with producer Tony Garnett. It was Loach's second feature, following Poor Cow in 1967, and the next feature in his filmography came with Black Jack in 1979. David Bradley plays Billy, with Freddie Fletcher as Jud, Lynne Perrie as Mrs. Casper, Colin Welland as Mr. Farthing, Brian Glover as Mr. Sugden and Bob Bowes as Mr. Gryce.

The film was released in April 1970 and runs 111 minutes. It holds a rating of 7.9 out of 10 on IMDb from more than 26,000 votes and a rating of 7.4 out of 10 on TMDB from 463 votes. A film critics' score of 9.4 out of 10, drawn from 32 reviews, places it well above both audience ratings.