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The Gamekeeper was based on Barry Hines' 1975 novel of the same name. As
Hines put it, both book and film "were about class, not gamekeepers. You don't
have to say anything; you just show it". With the aid of cinematographer
Chris Menges, Ken Loach filmed the beautiful countryside and the gamekeeper's
activities with the same documentary realism he had earlier brought to Kes
(1969), his first collaboration with Hines.
The film focuses on the eponymous character, former steelworker George Purse. Purse moves awkwardly between two
worlds: the local housing estate and village, where he is disliked by many
because of his general boorishness and strong views on poaching; and the duke's estate
on which he lives and works long hours for poor pay, in a cottage that is in
constant need of repair.
Loach reinforces these tensions throughout the film. Purse tenderly nurtures
the pheasant chicks, but then casually snaps a rabbit's neck and shoots a fox.
Although the countryside looks beautiful and teems with life, it is relentlessly
managed - the documentary-style captions ("Summer - Rearing the Pheasant
Chicks") appear to relate to the seasons but are actually concerned with the
management of the estate and the continuation of those traditional activities
imposed upon the land by the gentry. Although Purse initially thinks the duke's
family have a right to protect their own land, a pub acquaintance's comment that
"It weren't their land in first place" clearly disturbs him.
Purse remains an ambivalent figure. He seems to perceive the futility of
rearing the pheasants while at the same time arranging the contrived method of
their slaughter, and although he questions the ownership of the land he
continues to uphold the rights of the gentry. He not only arrests poachers but,
in a telling moment, he even gently scares off a couple of bluebell picking
schoolgirls who live on the nearby housing estate.
In a fitting final scene, Purse is left on his own to heat up a processed meal while his absent wife helps
to prepare a banquet for the duke - he reaps few of the benefits of his work on
the land. The understated nature of The Gamekeeper belies its power, and it was
made all the more effective at the time for being slipped into the ATV schedules
in a peak-time slot where it could easily be mistaken for a nature
documentary.
John Williams
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1. 'Don't give me trespassing!' (5:00)
