It's a Free World... (2007)

Director:

Ken Loach

Writer:

Paul Laverty (writer)

Release Date:

29 February 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Angie gets the sack from a recruitment agency for bad behaviour in public. Seizing the chance, she teams up with her flatmate...

Plot Keywords:

Immigrant | Exploitation | Apostrophe In Title | Punctuation In Title | Employment Agency

Awards:

3 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Kierston Wareing	...	Angela AKA Angie or Ange
Juliet Ellis	...	Rose
Leslaw Zurek	...	Karol
Joe Siffleet	...	Jamie
Colin Caughlin	...	Geoff
Maggie Russell	...	Cathy
Raymond Mearns	...	Andy
Davoud Rastagou	...	Mahmoud (as Davoud Rastgou)
Mahin Aminnia	...	Mahin - Mahmoud's Wife
Shadah Kavousian	...	Shadah - Mahmoud and His Wife's Child
Sheera Kavousian	...	Sheera - Mahmoud and His Wife's Child
Frank Gilhooley	...	Derek
David Doyle	...	Tony
Eddie Webber	...	Company Director
Johnny Palmiero	...	Company Director

Also Known As:

En un mundo libre... (Spain)
In questo mondo libero (Italy)
It's a Free World (Germany)
Polak potrzebny od zaraz (Poland)
These Times (UK) (working title)

Runtime:

Canada:96 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Country:

UK | Italy | Germany | Spain | Poland

Language:

English | Polish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:14A | UK:15 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | France:U | Netherlands:12 | Sweden:11 | South Korea:18 | South Korea:15 | Australia:M | Finland:K-13

Filming Locations:

East End, London, England, UK

Company:

BIM Distribuzione

Trivia:

The movie Angela and Jamie are watching whilst waiting for the pizza to be delivered is Dog Soldiers (2002).

Quotes:

Karol: You know the old saying? Never return a favour, pass it on.

Movie Connections:

Features Dog Soldiers (2002)

Could have been better, but still an interesting and relevant story about what goes on today

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning

Angie (Kierston Waring) is fired from her job after not taking any cr*p off her boss who pinches her bum in public. Understandably riled, she decides to play him at his own game and set up her own recruitment agency (the job she was fired from in the first place) and dole out jobs for immigrant workers who will work below the minimum wage. However, she soon learns in this cut throat game the people at the top control everything and when she finds herself unable to pay her 'staff', things get nasty. Angie is driven to become more ruthless and mercenary as the stakes get higher.

I must confess I don't think I've seen a Ken Loach film before, but his style is hard to deny. Despite his work getting him noticed in Hollywood, his love for depicting British social realism has kept him firmly grounded on this side of the pond and by the looks of things, that's that with him.

Though not telling a true story, this is similar to Nick Broomfield's docu-drama Ghosts with it's themes of cheap immigrant workers keeping our economy flowing and the sh*tty deal they are dealt, coming here thinking Britain is the land of prosperity only to find themselves in a situation not much better than if they'd stayed at home. Pretty depressing stuff but then, that's what we do best and that's the way things are. This is a film full of characters to feel sorry for, trapped in a system that makes them all go over the edge, from Angie who has a soft, caring side that allows her to take an Iranian family under her roof after discovering them living in poverty to a need to succeed that sees her reporting a rival camp of illegal workers so she can move her own in to, of course, the workers with a genuine desire to work and contribute something who end up going through all that cr*p for peanuts.

The relentlessly grim tone doesn't make for a top viewing experience then, but this is still a relevant and interesting story that serves as great food for thought. ***