Quotes Flashcards
(3 cards)
‘You haven’t got it in you, man, you’re finished. Since Mam died you’re nothing but a useless twat! What the fuck are you gonna do about it?’
For the father, the feminine is experienced not only as absence but also as loss. Jackie lost his wife to death, and he is losing his mother-in-law to senility. In addition to experiencing the feminine as loss, Jackie has at least temporarily lost his livelihood, for he is a striking miner. This means that Jackie is unable to provide adequate financial support for his youngest son Billy, while his older son Tony.
These losses of wife and work combine to position Jackie as ‘not man enough’ for either of his sons (Weber).
* Jackie is initially seen being undermined by Tony, in the shot where they are standing face to face, Tony appears taller, but after Jackie’s strike, Tony is positioned kneeling on the ground, affirming a sense of male control and dominance. - power dynamic
* Tony’s words are brutally cutting because they attack Jackie at his core—not just as a father, but as a man.
* By saying “You haven’t got it in you, man, you’re finished”, Tony is voicing his disappointment and resentment, believing that Jackie has lost all strength, purpose, and leadership since their mother died.
- The phrase “Since Mam died you’re nothing but a useless twat” directly ties Jackie’s decline to their grief—suggesting that instead of holding the family together, Jackie has become weak and directionless.
‘I’m sorry, son. We’re finished, son. What choice have we got, eh? Let’s give the boy a fuckin’ chance.’
by crossing the picket line to work in the mines — exacerbates his masculinity crisis. Recognizing his father on the bus carrying the scabs into the mine, Tony follows Dad to the mine. As Tony implores his father not to enter the mine.
Piano bridges from the introductory sequence (4:35 - 6:00) - trauma & suffering
- The piano acts as a symbolic link to Billy’s mother, suggesting that music was something she valued or that it holds sentimental significance for Billy and his family.
- When Billy’s father demands that he stop playing, it demonstrates his inability to confront grief—he rejects the music, much like he suppresses his emotions. The shift in the music at this point likely emphasizes this emotional rupture, as the father’s harsh reaction disrupts a moment of reflection.
- Billy’s father is positioned in the foreground of the shot, (0:04:59 - 0:05:19), where he does not look at Billy nor Tony, portraying that he is emotionally distant from his sons, and is not present in their lives (Billy’s expression in the background can be interpreted as needing of his father).
