Alan Clarke

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  • group Other Names:
    Alan John Clarke, 앨런 클라크, Алан Кларк

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Alan Clarke (28 October 1935 – 24 July 1990) was a television and film director, producer and writer, born in Wallasey, Merseyside, England. Most of Clarke's output was for television rather than cinema, including work for the famous play strands The Wednesday Play and Play for Today. His subject matter tended towards social realism, especially with respect to deprived or oppressed communities. As Dave Rolinson's book (see 'Further reading', below) on Clarke details, between 1962 and 1966 Clarke directed several plays at The Questors Theatre in Ealing, London. Between 1967 and 1969 he directed various ITV productions including plays by Alun Owen (Shelter, George’s Room, Stella, Thief, Gareth), Edna O’Brien (Which Of These Two Ladies Is He Married To? and Nothing’s Ever Over) and Roy Minton (The Gentleman Caller, Goodnight Albert, Stand By Your Screen). He also worked on the series The Informer, The Gold Robbers and A Man Of Our Times (but not, as Sight and Sound once claimed, Big Breadwinner Hog). Clarke continued to work for ITV through the 1970s but now made much of his work for the BBC. This included pieces for The Wednesday Play (Sovereign's Company 1970), Play for Today and Play of the Month. Distinctive work for these strands included further plays by Minton including Funny Farm (1975) and Scum (further details below), but also Sovereign’s Company (1970) by Don Shaw, The Hallelujah Handshake (1970) by Colin Welland and Penda’s Fen (1974) by David Rudkin. He also made To Encourage the Others (1972), a powerful drama documentary about the Derek Bentley case, and several documentaries, including Vodka Cola (1981) on multinational corporations. A number of his works achieved notoriety and widespread criticism from the conservative end of the political spectrum, including Scum (1977), dealing with the subject of borstals (youth prisons), which was banned by the BBC, and subsequently remade by Clarke as a feature film in 1979 (the original television version was eventually screened after his death). His 1982 television play Made in Britain, starring Tim Roth (in his television debut) as a racist skinhead and his negative relationship with authorities and racial minorities, was based on a screenplay by David Leland. He directed the feature film Rita, Sue and Bob Too released in 1987. Clarke's work in the 1980s is fiercely stark and political, including the David Leland plays Beloved Enemy (1981) on multinational corporations and Psy-Warriors (1981) on military interrogation. But he also directed David Bowie in Baal (1982) for the BBC, part of Clarke’s interest in Bertolt Brecht. His film work became more sparse, culminating in Contact (1984) on the British military presence in Northern Ireland, Billy the Kid and the Green Baize Vampire (1985), Road (1987) and his short film (40 mins.) Elephant (1989) which dealt with 'the troubles' in Northern Ireland and featured a series of shootings with no narrative and hardly any dialogue; all were based on accounts of actual sectarian killings that had taken place in Belfast. The film took its title from Bernard MacLaverty's description of the troubles as "the elephant in our living room" - a reference to the collective denial of the underlying social problems of Northern Ireland. His final production, The Firm (1989), covered football hooliganism through the lead character played by Gary Oldman, but also the politics of Thatcher’s Britain. Clarke inspired a generation of actors, writers and directors, including Paul Greengrass, Stephen Frears, Tim Roth, Ray Winstone, Gary Oldman, Danny Brocklehurst and Iain MacDonald. Filmmaker Harmony Korine has cited Clarke as a major influence on his work. Clarke's son is Gabriel Clarke, an award-winning sports journalist with ITV. Description above from the Wikipedia article Alan Clarke, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.​

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  • wc Gender: Male
  • calendar_month Birth Date: 1935-10-28
  • event Death Date 1990-07-24
  • school Known for: Directing
  • star Popularity: 1.3
  • info Birth Place Wallasey, Merseyside, England, UK
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image Images

smart_display Movies and TV shows by Alan Clarke

movie_edit Directing

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Made in Britain

1982-02-25

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Scum

1979-09-12

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Elephant

1989-01-25

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The Firm

1989-02-26

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Rita, Sue and Bob Too

1987-05-20

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Scum

1977-11-08

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Baal

1982-02-02

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Penda's Fen

1974-03-21

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Road

1987-10-07

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Billy the Kid and the Green Baize Vampire

1985-11-25

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Christine

1987-09-23

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Contact

1985-01-06

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Beloved Enemy

1981-02-10

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Fast Hands

1976-05-03

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Diane

1975-07-09

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Diane

1975-07-09

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The Hallelujah Handshake

1970-12-17

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To Encourage the Others

1972-03-27

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Under the Age

1972-03-19

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The Last Train Through Harecastle Tunnel

1969-10-01

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A Follower for Emily

1974-07-04

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Sovereign's Company

1970-04-21

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Funny Farm

1975-02-27

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Nina

1978-10-17

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Psy-Warriors

1981-07-17

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Danton's Death

1978-04-23

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Horace

1972-03-21

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George's Room

1967-09-30

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The Fifty-Seventh Saturday

1968-07-03

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Shelter

1967-05-19

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The Gentleman Caller

1967-06-16

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Thief

1968-07-24

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Goodnight Albert

1968-02-06

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Stella

1968-06-19

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The British Desk

1984-01-01

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Brief Encounters

1983-01-01

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Vodka Cola

1980-07-22

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Vodka Cola

1980-07-22

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Stars of the Roller State Disco

1984-12-04

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The Love-Girl and the Innocent

1973-09-16

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Achilles Heel

1973-03-18

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Sally Go Round the Moon

1968-01-18

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The Piano Tuner

1969-03-08

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The Comic

1969-11-29

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Stand by Your Screen

1968-12-08

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A Life Is Forever

1972-10-16

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Bukovsky

1977-01-01

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Bukovsky

1977-01-01

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Man Above Men

1973-03-19

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I Can't See My Little Willie

1970-11-19

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Everybody Say Cheese

1971-06-03

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Horatio Bottomley

1972-11-28

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Danton's Death

1978-04-23

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Christine

1987-09-23

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Play for Today

1970-10-15

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BBC Play of the Month

1965-10-19

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The Edwardians

1972-11-21

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The Company of Five

1968-11-03

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The Gold Robbers

1969-06-06

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Tales Out of School

1983-06-19