By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: Ken Loach
Starring: Dean Andrews | Joe Duttine | Steve Huison | Thomas Craig
Country: germany, spain, united_kingdom
Year: 2003
Running time: 92
IMDB: http://us.imdb.com/Details?0279977
Peg says: “THE NAVIGATORS, directed by Ken Loach, is a fictional story of an all-too-real situation: the deregulation and increasingly-private ownership of the railway system in Great Britain. The script was written by a former railway employee, Rob Dawber, who tragically died from cancer recently (though he did see part of the film in production) incurred from inhalation of asbestos during his working years. Set in Yorkshire, the story follows a group of close-knit railway workers, beginning on a day when the ‘British Rail’ sign at their place of employment is replaced by a private corporate logo. It is soon replaced by another company’s insignia. At first the men, already struggling to get by, cope with the changes (all designed to promote competition
among the newly privatized divisions of what was once a government-operated transport system) but gradually their confidence in their employers is eroded as corporate bottom line efficiency affects their ability to simply get the job done. Some of them choose voluntary ‘redundancy’ (we call that getting laid off) and work freelance for agencies who pay them higher wages in exchange for erratic scheduling and increasingly-dodgy working conditions. The pressure of looming unemployment, the perplexing manipulation by corporate suits, and the shame of being without a regular paycheck strongly affects the men’s personal lives, and their wives, lovers, exes and children are drawn into their struggle. Eventually, safety concerns are eschewed in favor of cutting corners and a tragic accident occurs which tests the men’s bonds of friendship and trust.
“What makes this film work so well is, as with other Loach films, the intimate and very realistic unfolding of people’s daily
lives. Even as the men are caught up in a spiraling disaster, there are scenes that are full of humor, tenderness, or absurdity. The acting portrayals are top notch, naturalistic but complex, and while some audiences may have trouble catching all the dialogue because of the strong Yorkshire dialect, it is this authenticity, against Loach’s masterful composition and confident pacing, that makes this story all the more affecting. It seems real, because it is real.
“I haven’t ridden the rail system in Great Britain in a while, but the same deregulation is happening on the Underground system in London, and I have been all too familiar with the changes there. A recent derailment of the Central Line, two days after a safety inspection, is a terrifying indicator of where things are headed. Once the greatest public transport system in Europe, British Rail and the Underground are following in the paths of major utilities and telecommunications systems that have gone
from government regulation to private ownership, and in the process have sacrificed service, efficiency, safety and integrity, to greed and ego-driven competition. Loach measures the effects of this upon the human beings still required to make it all work, whose autonomy and self-respect are often corrupted along the way.” 4 1/2 cats
Esme says: “I also caught this Ken Loach film the other night. I wanted to see it because it got some determined recognition at
the nominating meeting. I wasn’t disappointed. The story follows a crew of rail workers going through their company’s transition towards efficiency (read: globalization). I thought it really captured the feeling and confusion of a bunch of working class men who do not understand or see the point of the changes they are being forced to make. And that while it may benefit the company, it does not benefit them, and we see tjhe toll it takes on their respective lives.” 4 cats