Scum

Scum is a film made in 1979 portraying the brutality of life inside a British borstal. Directed by Alan Clarke, written by Roy Minton and starring Ray Winstone, Mick Ford, Julian Firth, John Blundell, Phil Daniels, Alan Igbon and Ray Burdis, it tells the story of a young offender named Carlin as he arrives at the institution, and his rise through violence and self-protection to the top of the inmates' pecking order, purely as a tool to survive. B... more

Scum is a film made in 1979 portraying the brutality of life inside a British borstal. Directed by Alan Clarke, written by Roy Minton and starring Ray Winstone, Mick Ford, Julian Firth, John Blundell, Phil Daniels, Alan Igbon and Ray Burdis, it tells the story of a young offender named Carlin as he arrives at the institution, and his rise through violence and self-protection to the top of the inmates' pecking order, purely as a tool to survive. Beyond Carlin's individual storyline, it is also cast as an indictment of the borstal system's flaws. The film is violent, with a vicious male rape scene (the victim is a minor) that leads to the suicide of the victim. It features two suicides in total, many fights which are not short on realism and a large amount of racism and strong language. The warders and convicts alike are brutalised by the system. There is no attempt at rehabilitation; the inmates are simply left to their own devices. The story was originally made for the BBC's Play for... less