Ken Loach and his screenwriter Paul Laverty: an exceptional duo

Since 1995 and the filming of Carla’s Song, Ken Loach has repeatedly worked with Paul Laverty, his screenwriter of choice. Twenty years after their first partnership and eleven films later, Paul Laverty has penned the screenplay of Ken Loach’s new work The Angels’ Share, presented In Competition at the Festival de Cannes.

Photo from the film The Angels’ Share © RR
 

Both men stress the importance of their pairing. During interviews, Ken Loach talks of this joint effort in terms of the screenwriter’s eye for detail, from the casting stage through to the final cut, passing by the filming itself. These two “makers of films” try to create a single work. “It is a collective creation for which Ken is the pillar,” explains Paul Laverty: “He is generous, very straight-forward, it’s great fun to work with him.”

Before devoting himself to writing, Paul Laverty, who had been a lawyer in Glasgow, worked to defend human rights, denouncing U.S. intervention in Latin American countries. It was therefore only natural that he would pair up with the socially engaged filmmaker, an icon of reality film, once he decided to pursue writing. This was indeed a meeting based on a shared taste for political engagement.

Ken Loach is attracted to the work of the British screenwriter, despite the fact that the latter does not come from a film background nor had he ever written a screenplay previously. Today, along with the producer, the cinematographer and the sound engineer, the team forms a solid core, who are said to participate in the key steps of a film’s creation.

Their long-standing collaboration now extends to the film The Angels’ Share, a social chronicle, which reflects on where an encounter can lead…

P.C.

The film will be screened at the Grand Théâtre Lumière on Tuesday 22nd May at 11:30 and at 22:30.