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Dai
has been working on an autobiography but says he has no plans to
publish it for a few years. He says: "I sometimes get a little
insecure about writing because, in my age group, a lot of kids when
they left school did not have any qualifications behind them, and
because of the whole snowballing effect of Kes I didn't stay on
to take any examinations. I went to a Secondary Modern school but
I felt the opportunity [provided by Kes] was there and I should
grasp it instead of waiting eight or nine months. I look upon life
and experience as my kind of education so in travel, in reading
- I do enjoy reading - in my work, in meeting people and taking
whatever opportunities that come along, if they appeal of course,
that's what life is about...If that spark of life that makes one
want to explore and discover and learn and share is destroyed then
there's no point in continuing."
When
Dai was chosen by Ken Loach for the part of Billy he had done some
acting at school and in panto but he had thoughts of becoming a
professional footballer. As an actor he managed to play with some
of his heroes including Jimmy Greaves and Bobby Chalrton. He says:
"In a lot of ways some of my dreams came true and I knew for
a fact I would not join my father down the coalmines - my father
was a collier. Apparently my teachers at school thought I would
fit in quite well in a bank but that didn't really appeal."
Dai
has no regrets about the choice he made at school: "There've
been extraordinary experiences, not only through work but in my
personal life..." He talks about his love for world music and
modern jazz, particularly the work of Keith Jarrett and Pat Metheny,
and concludes: "This would not have happened if it hadn't been
for Kes. I wouldn't haven't got involved in South American music
and jazz, I don't think."
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| Dai
(David) Bradley as Billy Casper in Kes |
Barry
Hines, who wrote the book A Kestrel For A Knave on which Kes was
based, had been a teacher at Dai's school although their time there
did not coincide with Dai's. Ken Loach had originally wanted to
film an earlier Hines novel, The Blinder, in which a young boy is
taken on by Huddersfield Town. However, Barry Hines had already
started working on a story which he believed was more realistic.
Dai comments: "It was somewhat based, I think, on his brother
Richard who amongst the three of us was the real falconer. We trained
three falcons for the film named Freeman, Hardy and Willis - you
might remember the shoeshop of that name. I trained Hardy, Richard
trained Freeman and Willis was trained by Barry. Willis was rather
schizophrenic so we had to let him go back to the wild. Next time
you'll see the film, you'll notice Freeman and Hardy have two different
flying styles. If you see the kestrel flying quite high above and
sweeping down at an angle you'll know it's Hardy, and if you see
a kestrae coming directly at you at eye level then you'll know it's
Freeman."
He
still believes Kes paints an accurate picture of the South Yorkshire
of his childhood: "It wasn't my life. Billy didn't have much
in common with me and he didn't get on well at school. I enjoyed
school. I had a very good relationship with many of my teachers
and I enjoyed football. Billy knew about the training of birds.
I knew nothing about birds whatsoever and I've discovered it doesn't
just relate to such communities. I've had African-Caribbean people
come up to me and, with eyes watering, have said Kes was one of
the most wonderful films they had ever seen so it's a cross-cultural
film which has surprised me and in some respects I'm really kind
of thrilled by that."
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| Asylum:
A film just as relevant for its time? |
Dai
thinks his home town has changed tremendously in the intervening
years: "I saw on the BBC's Look North programme a few days
ago that communities are still struggling to get over the demise
of the coal mining industry. The centre of Barnsley has changed
since I was a boy...We had a wonderful open-air market but that's
now partly indoors, and I hear if this new architectural plan of
linking Liverpool with Hull goes ahead the architect wants to convert
Barnsley into a Tuscan town. That could be quite interesting. I
wish it would do more to cling on to its past, to clean up the old
buildings because the modern ones have no character...I'm hoping
the Council will retain the history of my home town but I'm not
sure that it will."
Kes
has surely ensured that Dai Bradley himself has a place in that
history but with Asylum he finds himself in a film which is perhaps
just as relevant for its time.
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