My name is joe

Movie
German title	My name is joe
Original title	My name is Joe
Country of production	Great Britain
original language	English
Publishing year	1998
length	105 minutes
Age rating	FSK 12
Rod
Director	Ken Loach
script	Paul Laverty
production	Rebecca O'Brien
music	George Fenton
camera	Barry Ackroyd
cut	Jonathan Morris
occupation
	Peter Mullan : Joe Kavanagh; Louise Goodall : Sarah Downie; David McKay : Liam; Anne-Marie Kennedy : Sabine; David Hayman McGowan; Gary Lewis : Shanks; Lorraine McIntosh : Maggie; Scott Hannah : Scott;

My Name is Joe (Original title: My Name is Joe ) is a British social drama directed by Ken Loach from 1998 and based on a script by Paul Laverty . The film premiered on May 15, 1998 at the Cannes International Film Festival . The German theatrical release was on January 7, 1999.

Ken Loach received multiple awards for this film. In addition to a Golden Palm in Cannes , the film received three prizes at the first British Independent Film Awards in 1998 and was nominated for two more. For the actor Peter Mullan , the multi-award-winning performance of Joe Kavanagh was the breakthrough in his career.

action

"My name is Joe," is how 37-year-old Joe Kavanagh introduces himself to Alcoholics Anonymous . In Glasgow in the 1990s, the social welfare recipient with a criminal record for drug offenses kept afloat with odd jobs. Among other things, he trains a soccer team for socially disadvantaged young people. One of the players on his team is Liam, who also has a criminal record for drug trafficking and for whom playing football is the only way to come to terms with the past. Despite his youth, Liam already has a son. Through Liam, Joe meets the social worker Sarah Downie, and a love affair develops between the two, which, however, is constantly put to the test by their different origins and Joe's drug past.

Liam owes gang boss McGowan £ 500 from his time before prison . That debt has grown to £ 2,000 due to Liam's friend Sabine's drug use. When McGowan demands the repayment from Liam and Sabine and they cannot raise the sum, he threatens either to send Sabine to the street to raise the money or to break Liam's legs. To help his friend, Joe speaks to McGowan, but cannot dissuade him from his demands. Joe offers to take on two drug trips for McGowan himself in order to free Liam and Sabine from their debts. He then persuades Liam and Sabine to flee McGowan's sphere of influence and leave town.

Joe can't hide his involvement in McGowan's criminal machinations from Sarah, who breaks up with him after the first drug smuggling. Joe doesn't want to lose Sarah and tries again to negotiate with McGowan. An argument ensues in which Joe beats up McGowan's bodyguard and wrecks his car. Emotionally badly affected by the events, Joe begins drinking alcohol again that evening. Liam, who could not bring himself to leave his friend behind, appears in Joe's apartment, but cannot get him to leave town as well. While still in Joe's apartment, Liam receives a call from Sabine, warning him that McGowan's men are on their way to see him after they have ransacked Liam and Sabine's apartment. Liam can't get Joe out of the apartment because he is drunk, sees no way out and hangs himself. The film ends with Liam's funeral.

Reviews

“In the conflict between pragmatism and morality, between the individual case and principle, there is neither good nor bad, only victims. It is all the more astonishing how light, friendly and entertaining the film is despite the heavy weight of the subject.

- Peter Lau : cinema

“My name is Joe is a three-dimensional portrait of a socially disadvantaged area in Glasgow. With this mixture of realistic milieu study and moving love story against the background of humanistic ideals, Loach has created a true-to-life melodrama that makes it unmistakably clear how much the private is political. "

- 3sat online