Scum (1977) Full Review

Film Scene Investigation

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Transcript

00:00hey guys it's me Bo back again on the film scene investigation channel I hope everyone is doing

00:18good in today's video I'm going to be reviewing the controversial 1977 BBC drama Scum before we

00:28get into it guys if you have already please do consider subscribing to the channel all the

00:33support is greatly appreciated so Scum from 1977 was a BBC drama production directed by the late

00:44great Alan Clarke starring a host of young British talent including Ray Winston and Phil Daniels

00:53the 75-minute drama was based on the screenplay by writer Roy Minton Scum was filmed and completed

01:03awaiting transmission before subsequently being banned by the BBC for its very harsh and brutal

01:12depiction of borstal life in Britain scenes of rape and suicide were all too much for the BBC

01:22to broadcast to its audience thus they completely shelved it the crazy thing is that it took a total

01:30of 14 years and the death of the director Alan Clarke himself for the BBC to finally get around

01:38to broadcasting it in July of 1991 during those 14 years Clarke made a theatrical version of the film

01:48which was released in 1979 the movie version stayed pretty close to the plot of the BBC version with the same

01:58actors coming back reprising their roles but this is the version that I will not be reviewing today instead I'll be

02:06reviewing the original 1977 version today I saw the 1977 version a few years back and that was the version that

02:18really kind of got to me so I've been meaning to review the 1977 version for a while now many online talk about the 1979 movie but the 1977 original hardly gets mentioned

02:35although I think that's probably down to the fact that the 1979 version is widely available streaming on many different platforms and the BBC version is still

02:47quite hard to come by will push me into getting this review done was the recent passing of writer Roy Minton

02:54he died earlier this year at the age of 90 and after hearing his death I decided to prioritize this review and share my thoughts

03:06so in terms of the plot it began with three young offenders Carling, Angel and Davis arriving at a ball stall in the east of England

03:18from the start we saw the youths being put in their place and ordered around very aggressively by the staff

03:26now I know these kids were hoodlums and you know they'd been sent to ball stall for a reason still the senior staff's behavior towards them really felt unjustified and it was practically bullying as soon as these young offenders stepped through the door

03:48Carling played by a young Ray Winston was singled out specifically due to his history of violence towards members of staff

03:57the senior officer Mr Sands gave Carling a stern and vicious warning not to rock the boat or fall out of line but the volatile staff were the least of Carling's worries as he soon was attacked by another inmate called Banks played by the actor John Blundell

04:17Banks was a nasty piece of work a big bully not to be messed with he gave the orders and he was not going to allow some young offender called Carling coming in and moving in on his territory

04:35so this all led to a vicious attack a sneak attack basically on Carling while he was sleeping in his bed

04:44Carling was battered and bruised and with the injuries so visible he ended up getting in trouble being brought before the governor and sentenced to three days in solitary confinement

04:56I mean yeah the beating was so heinous yeah there was no way that he could you know put on makeup or hide his face and obviously that was one of the strict rules in Borstal

05:08no fighting whatsoever no fighting whatsoever yeah I mean the whole thing was very unfair the fact that there was going to be no internal investigation just simply black and white you was fighting he must be punished

05:22it was clear from the get-go that the staff working in the Borstal did not have the inmates best interests in mind upon his return to the wing Carling wasted no time in getting his revenge

05:38he first took care of Banks his friend Richard who was played by actor Phil Daniels

05:45Carling got hold of some snooker balls put three of them in a sock and then basically whacked the living hell out of Richard's

05:56yeah it was a vicious attack and uh you know someone that plays snooker those balls are hard man you wouldn't want someone whacking you over the face you know leaving you unconscious

06:06Carling would then go on to chase Banks into the upstairs toilets and beat him up too

06:13you know I can't say that I was cheering on the violence but it was hard to feel sympathy for the Banks character given he was the one that started all the trouble in the first place

06:29yeah I mean Carling was taking no prisoners and he made it very clear that he was the one now in control

06:39separately to the Carling drama we also saw the tragedy that unfolded with the character Davis who was played by actor Martin Phillips

06:50unlike Carling Davis was bullied and picked on by the others and yeah never stood up for himself

06:59in an environment like a boar stall or a prison for that matter those who don't fight back only encourage the others to join in with the bullying

07:10I mean you're pretty much the main target until you do something about it

07:17so towards the end of the film we saw Davis working in a greenhouse with some other inmates

07:23out of nowhere he was suddenly attacked from behind and ended up being savagely raped by these two boys

07:32to make matters worse the senior officer Mr Sands was witness to this sadistic rape that was going on in the greenhouse

07:43yet he just turned a blind eye and walked away

07:47you witness someone being raped and you don't do anything to help them to call for help

07:54you just walk away turn a blind eye and allow that sick punishment to continue

08:03I mean wow I don't know just just an evil evil scumbag character Mr Sands was

08:11and yeah if you didn't hate him already you'd definitely hate him now

08:17the whole Davis rape scene in the greenhouse was um yeah it was very difficult to watch

08:26and I'll be honest with you it's um kind of disgusted me as well

08:31credit has to be given to director Alan Clarke for delivering such a harrowing sequence of events

08:40I mean ultimately that was his intention and he pulled it off very well

08:46later that night completely distraught over his ordeal Davis decided to cut his own wrists

08:55as a cry for help but ultimately killed himself in the process

09:01it was a horrific scene with blood everywhere him crying out for help

09:07and the staff just um yeah not caring about him not caring about his well-being

09:14and just left him there to bleed to death

09:16it was one horrific scene after another at this point

09:19and um I'll be honest with you at this point towards the end of the film

09:23I was kind of like you know can we end this now

09:26because I don't know what's going on but this is just getting harder and harder to watch

09:30I mean the Davis character was this shy quiet boy that didn't want to rustle any feathers

09:39yet no matter what he did bullies just wanted to take advantage

09:46Davis's dead body was found the next day by the wardens

09:51and the death itself would go on to spark a riot in the dinner hall after the youths refused to eat

09:58Carlin was the one that instigated the riot by him throwing his food up against the wall

10:06suddenly you had everyone standing up throwing chairs flipping tables

10:12and all the officers standing around having no control

10:17the boys had had enough and they were lashing out in anger towards the officers and their behaviour

10:27I mean yeah it was a chaotic end to a very vicious portrayal of borstal life

10:34you know when it comes to Ray Winston I have to say he did a wonderful job as Carlin

10:41especially given the limited acting experience the actor had at the time

10:46while the actor has somewhat of a limited range

10:51he was perfect for the role as Carlin

10:54the director Alan Clarke gave a young Ray Winston an opportunity

11:01because he saw the potential in him

11:04and Clarke was right as Winston went on to have a long career in the movie industry

11:10and you know talking of Carlin I wanted to mention one of the major significant differences this version had

11:17compared to the theatrical 1979 version

11:21so in the original BBC version the Carlin character was secretly gay

11:28and pursued a relationship with an effeminate inmate

11:32early on in the film after Banks had been taken out

11:37Mr. Goodyear the housing officer gave Carlin a single cell to himself

11:42in exchange for Carlin's help to maintain order in the wing

11:47once Carlin had his own cell to himself

11:51he then sought to find his own personal cellmate

11:55you know I found the whole thing very intriguing

11:59and credit to the writer Roy Minton for

12:02including this gay subplot into his original screenplay

12:06I mean let's face it

12:08these gay relationships in such places like a borstal

12:12or a prison do in fact take place

12:15it's common practice

12:17and so I appreciated Minton for not shying away from that aspect in his material

12:26and yeah I do wonder why Carlin's sexuality was never carried over to the big screen version in 1979

12:36I felt it was a very important subplot

12:40and gave the Carlin character kind of more layers of complexity

12:46yet by cutting it out of the 1979 version

12:50it kind of took away some of the weight and impact the BBC version had

12:56another difference the BBC version had compared to the 1979 theatrical version

13:02was the casting of David Trellfall

13:05who played the character Archer

13:07you know for me David Trellfall's portrayal as Archer

13:12was perhaps one of the most compelling parts of the drama

13:16Archer was one of the inmates Carlin met

13:20when he started working in the laundry room

13:22unlike a lot of the other inmates in the borstal

13:26Archer had a brain

13:28he had an opinion

13:30and he wasn't afraid to share it

13:32he had complete disdain

13:35for the justice system

13:38and at every opportunity

13:40tried to make life difficult for the guards

13:43you know I must say

13:44I really did like the character Archer

13:46and specifically Trellfall's portrayal

13:49as he stood out among the rest of the inmates

13:52as this smug know-it-all intellectual

13:55who told things like they were

13:58no lies

14:00no sucking up to the authority

14:03just plain harsh truth

14:07now in the 1979 movie version of Scum

14:11the actor Mick Ward took over the role as Archer

14:15and while I thought Ward did a decent job

14:19I did prefer Trellfall's depiction of the character

14:23Trellfall had more of an ordinary look and feel about him

14:28compared to Mick Ward

14:30Trellfall didn't look out of place being in a borstal

14:33the way he looked and acted

14:35even down to the small mannerisms

14:38yeah in the 1977 version Trellfall is a real highlight

14:42and yeah it's a real shame that he never returned for the movie version in 1979

14:48and so dislikes for Scum 1977

14:55my main dislike for the movie would actually be

14:59the song that played during the end credits

15:02so the final scene takes place

15:05the young offenders and the prison guards

15:08are lined up outside the borstal

15:10paying respects to the character Davis

15:13who had obviously just died

15:15it was a very sombre and bleak end to the movie

15:19but then the end credits rolled

15:21and to my surprise

15:23this hokey generic music

15:25taken from one of the BBC's music libraries

15:28was tanked on

15:29now some will say that this is very trivial

15:32who really cares

15:33but for me you know I was genuinely disappointed

15:37now if you've watched any of Alan Clarke's material like I have

15:42you'll know that Clarke rarely used any music in his end credits sequences

15:47most of the time

15:49the credits would just roll down the screen

15:52without any music

15:53completely silent

15:55heightening the mood and atmosphere of the material

15:59so when it came to the BBC version of Scum

16:02I assumed once again that the credits would appear in silence

16:07but yeah I was wrong

16:10and the song itself that they tagged on

16:13didn't compliment the film in any way shape or form

16:17I thought it was a poor decision

16:19and it would have been so much better

16:22had they just not had any music whatsoever

16:25I mean the whole 75 minutes of this BBC drama

16:29was not accompanied by some haunting soundtrack

16:33there was little to no music whatsoever that was used

16:37and then suddenly at the very end

16:39you hear this generic piece of music during the credits

16:42which is just really jarring for me

16:45I just hated it

16:46knowing his track record

16:49I can't imagine this was a decision made by Alan Clarke

16:53and separately in the 1979 theatrical version

16:57this was corrected when the credits rolled

17:00and there was no music whatsoever

17:03I mean yeah that is a small thing

17:05I'm sure some people watching this will be like

17:07who cares man it's just a song

17:09I get it but

17:10it just was so eerie silent leading up to the end credits

17:16that once they tagged this music on

17:19it just threw me

17:20and yeah just wish it had not been included in the first place

17:23and so ratings for Scum 1977

17:29I'm going to be rating this BBC drama a strong 8 out of 10

17:35when it comes to Alan Clarke

17:38this original 1977 drama

17:42is arguably one of his strongest works in his filmography

17:46Scum offered this raw and intense viewpoint of Borstal life

17:51that was played by violence and corruption

17:54it was an important story

17:56and once Alan Clarke found out that

17:58his drama wasn't going to be broadcast to the nation

18:02he decided to go it alone

18:05and make his own film based on the same screenplay

18:08you know when I take a step back

18:12and look at both the 77 version

18:15and the 1979 version

18:18honestly I would say that the BBC original

18:22is the superior version that I recommend

18:25for me the 1977 version

18:28carried this very raw and bleak atmosphere to it

18:32while the 1979 movie still retained a lot of the same tone

18:37but it was a little bit too polished for me

18:41obviously there was a significant difference

18:43in the production budget for both projects

18:46and it showed

18:47I mean at times the BBC version

18:50felt like a off the wall documentary

18:53based on Borstal life

18:55whereas the 1979 film

18:58felt like a movie production

19:00set in a Borstal

19:02you know given how woke and bland the BBC are nowadays

19:07it's not surprising that they got cold feet

19:10before Scum could be broadcast

19:12I mean it was a terrible idea by the BBC

19:15one of many that they've made over the years

19:17and I'm just glad that the original 77 version

19:21did finally get to be broadcast

19:24even though it was 14 years late

19:27I know the 1979 version of Scum

19:31is widely available

19:33and I believe it's actually free to view on YouTube

19:37whereas the BBC version

19:39is not streaming anywhere

19:41and yeah it's very very hard to come by

19:45still if you're able to get your hands

19:47on the 1977 version

19:49by all means watch it

19:51because in my eyes

19:53it's the better of the two

20:19the 15 which most often

20:22are compatible with the copy,

20:23of the achieved enough

20:24and over Is it consistent?

20:27it's in the engine

20:28that's not fine

20:29it means that you're a fan

20:31& thecinезд

20:32that's focused on

20:33what would you suggest

20:35by all of the intereses

20:36you've saved

20:38you we know

20:39or is more as is

20:40available

20:41for the likes

20:43let's get up

20:45I want to Biden

20:46and make up

20:47all the great

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