‘Ken, Remember When We Began?’: U.K. Folk Icon Donovan on Working With Ken Loach on His First Feature Film
variety.comChristopher Vourlias On a recent morning in Cannes, Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan sat over coffee at the Hotel Martinez and recalled a phone call he received nearly 60 years ago, not long after he’d made a splash on the British folk scene.
On the other end of the line was a rising screenwriter and director called Ken Loach. “He said he was making his first feature…and would I help him with the music?” Donovan told Variety.
The film, a kitchen sink drama called “Poor Cow,” based on a novel by British playwright and author Neil Dunn, tells the story of a working-class single mother leading a hard-luck life in the slums of London.
It’s a movie that set the tone for the type of social drama that propelled Loach throughout a remarkable, prolific career. This week at the Cannes Film Festival, Loach will bow what he says will be his final film, “The Old Oak,” which premieres May 26 in competition for the Palme d’Or — a feat that Donovan describes as “extraordinary” at the tail-end of a career spanning nearly six decades. “I really want to say hello to Ken,” the singer said. “I just wanted something — even a quick photo with him — and say, ‘Ken, remember when we began?
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