Ray Winstone is still the "f***** daddy"!
"Scum" (1979) may now be over 30 years old, but its stunning power, notoriety and shock factor hasn't dwindled! Nor has its wide spread appeal. Films like "Scum" are just simply timeless in their power! This totally harrowing, often stomach-churning drama is a commendably daring (but then again its not really daring when you are merley depicting the truth - no matter how grim or appalling) and unflinching look at life inside a fictious boys juvenile centre (otherwise known as borstal).
Extremely edgy, startlingly powerful and completely shocking, "Scum" depicts brutal violence, racial predujice, homeosexuality and sexual abuse in a way that hits you right between the eyes! Not comfortable, easy viewing by any means - almost like sitting on a barbed wire fence its that painfully real. You could easily forget your watching, what is a superbly made drama, and think you were watching a documentary as it has that in-your-face, astoundingly stark effect! You really will not be...
Classic British prison movie!
This film made in 1979 pulls no punches in its depiction of life in a maximum security British Borstal institution. Set roughly in the 1960s, the main character, Carling, played by Ray Winstone(LOCK STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS) is sent to maximum security for punching a warden at his previous institution, and soon has to face up to a taste of his own medicine from both prisoners and wardens alike. But when he stands up to the 'daddies'(watch out for Phil Daniels of QUADROPHENIA and BREAKING GLASS fame as one of them!) that run the wing and becomes a leader himself, this only a small part of the story. Regular beatings and frame-ups from the wardens are an everyday occurrance. Racism is rife, the language used would never be allowed in a santised Hollywood production today! The violent scenes are extremely graphic, most notably when Carling confronts the daddy of another wing in the prison. Finally, during gardening duties, there is a brutal rape scene and a very disturbing...
RAW , HEARTBREAKING AND SCARY
I watched the first version of this film, but had to wait a couple of days before I viewed the latter version of two years later. It was THAT strong -- brutal and vile. "Man's inhumanity to man" fits this film perfectly.
Yes, out-of-control youth must be dealt with, but not by inhuman, depraved authoritarians! The administrators of this borstal (reformatory) were all sick, demented sex perverts, who seem to get pleasure out of watching these young men devour one another.
Both versions are brutal, but the remake went even further, especially the greenhouse rape. In the first version, there were two harmless-looking lads who attacked "James". In the sequel, three toughs were the perpetrators. The attact went on for what seemed, several minutes (screen time). For the victim, it probably felt like hours.
Both films are nearly identical with some of the same actors repeating their roles, especially the lead, Ray Winstone, but the actors were so...
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