Scrubbers (1983)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Director:

Mai Zetterling

Writers:

Susannah Buxton (writer)
Roy Minton (writer)

Release Date:

16 March 1983 (Sweden)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

IT'S A CRIME WHAT PRISON CAN DO TO A GIRL!

Plot:

Two girls escape from an open borstal for two very different reasons; Annetta to attempt to visit her baby daughter...

Plot Keywords:

Girl | Violence | Reform School | Prison | Lesbian

Cast

Amanda York	...	Carol Howden
Chrissie Cotterill	...	Annetta Brady
Elizabeth Edmonds	...	Kathleen
Kate Ingram	...	Eddie
Amanda Symonds	...	Mac
Kathy Burke	...	Glennis
Debby Bishop	...	Doreen (as Debbie Bishop)
Eva Mottley	...	Pam
Imogen Bain	...	Sandy
Honey Bane	...	Molly
Camille Davis	...	Sharon
Rachel Weaver	...	Gwen (as Rachael Weaver)
Dawn Archibald	...	Mary
Faith Tingle	...	Hilary
Lilian Rostkowska	...	Phyllis

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:15 (video rating) | UK:AA (original rating) | Iceland:16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Norway:15 | Sweden:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Virginia Water, Surrey, England, UK

Company:

HandMade Films

Quotes:

Mac: [Mac's final song] A Borstal girl came home one day / To find her love had gone away / She asked him why he went astray / He turned to her, and he did say / "Once, you could have been my wife / If you had led a decent life / But you preferred a life of crime / So, back in side, and do your time."

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mayo: (#1.8)" (2006)

A Must-see

Outstanding English-language effort by the great Swedish actor/director Mai Zetterling (anyone who have seen her brilliant Night Games will agree she kicks Bergman's sorry ass!).

Although the video box art tried to sell it off as a cheap Women-In-Prison-exploitation flick, it is really serious stuff. As other commentators have pointed out the film share a lot of similarity with Alan Clarke's grim masterpiece Scum, even sharing the same screenwriter. The main difference is that Scrubbers takes place in an all-women juvenile prison, making it both a great complement to Clarke's film and an interesting study of the differences of the sexes in the patriarchal society. Didn't sound that interesting, did it? Well, it really is when you think about it! For instance, how do the girls behavior to one another differ from the boys? How do girls backgrounds, views of themselves and reason for inprisonment differ? What issues do the girls from Scrubbers lack, that the boys from Scum has to deal with, and vice versa. It's really interesting.

The film is well-acted, well-scripted, thought-provoking and unpleasant. A must-see if you like your movies hard and unembellished. 8/10

NOTE FOR NON-ENGLISH VIEWERS: I saw a non-subtitled copy Scrubbers, and although this usually is no problem for me, in this case I had some trouble understanding parts of the dialouge. My American-born girlfriend had the same problem. Unless you've majored in ugly working-class English, local swearwords or prison-jive I would advise to see a subtitled version.