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03/04/1970 Drama 1h 51m
74
User score

They beat him. They deprived him. They ridiculed him. They broke his heart. But they couldn’t break his spirit.

Overview

Bullied at school and ignored and abused at home by his indifferent mother and older brother, Billy Casper, a 15-year-old working-class Yorkshire boy, tames and trains his pet kestrel falcon whom he names Kes. Helped and encouraged by his English teacher and his fellow students, Billy finally finds a positive purpose to his unhappy existence.

  1. Ken Loach

    Director

Top billed cast

  1. David Bradley

    Billy

  2. Freddie Fletcher

    Jud

  3. Lynne Perrie

    Mrs. Casper

  4. Colin Welland

    Mr. Farthing

  5. Brian Glover

    Mr. Sugden

  6. Bob Bowes

    Mr. Gryce

  7. Bernard Atha

    Youth Employment Officer

  8. Laurence Bould

  9. Joey Kaye

    Pub Comic

  10. View more

Full Cast & Crew

Reviews

A review by CinemaSerf
Written by CinemaSerf on 2026-06-09
When I think back to my childhood, this is one of the few films that I ever saw that induced some sort of emotional reaction. It was it's last five minutes that achieved that, but building up to this denouement we watch the antics of the amiable working class lad "Billy" (David Bradley). He lives with his mum (Lynne Perrie) and his older, bullying, brother "Jud" (Freddie Fletcher) on a bit of a shoestring and is largely a loner at school. Then one afternoon he espies a young kestrel nesting in a farmer's tree. He convinces the man to allow him to try and rear the bird and so with the help of a...read the rest
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Status
Released

Original Language
English

Budget
$0.00

Revenue
$0.00

Keywords