The Unloved (TV Movie 2009)

The Unloved: Directed by Samantha Morton. With Molly Windsor, Robert Carlyle, Susan Lynch, Craig Parkinson. A film that gives a child’s eye view of the U.K.’s government-run care system for orphans and children in danger.

“With this film, Samantha Morton has done better than most actors-turned-directors, as she displays an understanding not just of the ways in which films make meaning and are experienced by their audience, but also of human behaviour and the way life itself unfolds. While similar subject matter has certainly been covered before in British films, from Ken Loach to Lynne Ramsay (from whom Morton seems to have learned cinematic pacing and how to u0026quot;show and not tellu0026quot;), this film is still able to give a fresh experience, just like how many people share very similar lives on the surface, yet each one is unique.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWithout giving anything away plot-wise, the scenes which stand out for excellent direction, acting and pacing are the opening one between the main character and her father, another later on between these same characters in a pub, an outdoor rave, and a fight that breaks out between a group of adults who are supposed to be the responsible ones (though the beauty of the way this scene is handled lies in the fact that we canu0026#39;t be sure some of them *arenu0026#39;t* being responsible by doing what theyu0026#39;re doing!).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe last shot could have been one of the stronger endings Iu0026#39;ve seen in recent cinema, but the music that plays over it detracts from the power it could have had – instead of allowing viewers to have their own individual reactions to this image (and thereu0026#39;s enough power and emotion inherent in the situation that it would be nearly impossible not to experience something during this shot), the music tells us what the emotions are, through both instrumentation and lyrics. This serves to detach the audience somewhat from what weu0026#39;re seeing, instead of sucking us in like most of the film has already succeeded so well in doing.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI can only hope Morton directs another film in the (near) future.”