Poor Cow

"A love story about a girl, the man she is living for, and the man she is living with."

Oh I do like a good 1960s British New Wave film - proper social realism and Ken Loach grit. Not necessarily a cheery film but it doesn't leave the lingering taste of disgust and general unease that comes with many social commentary dramas of recent years (this isn't to say I don't enjoy them!). It's purely down to the times and how we have progessed - in 1967 this film would most certainly have been shocking. We see Joy, played by Carol White, as a young mother with an abusive husband (John Bindon) in prison and a preoccupation for finding love; through this she overlooks and perhaps neglects the most important love, that for her son. Dabbling in various seedy professions she seeks to mimic the love and closeness she has for her husband's best friend (a fit Terence Stamp), becoming a social deviant in her own home. But that's where I'll leave it, I don't want to spoil the ending for you. One thing I do want to say is WATCH IT, for the Donovan soundtrack if nothing else.