Listen

Britain’s social services are under fire in Ana Rocha de Sousa’s Anglo-Portuguese drama in the style of Ken Loach.

There's a passionate concern that is always apparent throughout this first feature. It is the work of Ana Rocha de Sousa, an established actress who has turned to directing with a number of short films and now with this longer work which she wrote together with Paula Vaccaro and Aaron Bruckner. The film, the first-ever co-production between the UK and Portugal, came about when the filmmaker found herself deeply affected by a tragic event in Britain in 2014 which involved the children of Portuguese parents being taken away and placed in forced adoption. Listen tells a comparable story which, although presented as a work of fiction, states at its close that, as evidenced by detailed research, everything that happens to the characters in this story has, indeed, occurred in real life.

As a film highly critical of the British Social Services, this is a work that fits all too well with headlines spotlighting ill-judgments and injustices within the system including actions taken locally by Children's Services departments. The pressures on those involved through overwork and other such shortcomings may partly explain the failures, but to highlight these cases is important and Listen is to be applauded for its intentions. The film is undoubtedly thought-provoking but, while it achieves that, there are many respects in which it sadly falls short.

The first part of this relatively short feature (it lasts about 77 minutes) is by far the best. It introduces us to Bela (Lúcia Moniz) and her husband Jota (Ruben Garcia) who are settled in London with their three young children, namely Diego (James Felner), seven-year-old Lu who is deaf (a role taken by Maisie Sly who will be remembered by those who saw her in the short drama The Silent Child made in 2017) and baby Jessy. An early scene shows Bela shoplifting and this is an example of the film embracing the idea that in cinema it is often better to show than to tell. Without any words on the subject, we recognise that this is a family struggling to get by – both parents may have jobs but Jota is waiting to be paid what is due under a zero-hour contract and the family has to wait until payday if it is to shop legally.

By far the most striking performance in the film is that of Lúcia Moniz and she firmly holds us in these early scenes of ordinary life taking place on a day when a visit from the social services is awaited in the afternoon. It so happens that prior to their visit young Lu has a fall at school leading to a brief hospital check-up during which marks on her back are noted. But then what had looked to be a standard check by a social services officer (Brian Bovell) turns out to involve instead the service of a Protection Order causing the children to be seized. Surely too quick and too extreme an act to be related to the marks from the fall, this scene robs the film of its sense of realism, but that is only the first time that the writing lets the film down.

The character of Jota is insufficiently fleshed out (a reference to him punching walls is never adequately commented on) and we have the late but significant introduction of a former social worker (Sophia Myles) which calls out for much more explanation of her character than we get. She advises the couple, appears to have links with safe houses where children can be hidden and is even prepared to help Bela and Jota to get Diego away from the new family to whom the child has been assigned. She must, however, be aware that such an act would legally be regarded as a kidnapping. The film’s final scenes feel skimped needing more detail if the story is to conclude effectively. Meanwhile, just before that, Bela gives a big speech at a private hearing before a judge and here we learn for the first time that Lu had suffered from meningitis and social services had been concerned over whether or not proper medication was being given. The fact that questions about the competence of the parents had arisen earlier, justified or not, helps to make the issue of the Protection Order more credible but we needed to know of that much earlier. However, even if too many doubts arise for the film to make its mark as a wholly believable drama, it is still the case that its compassionate stance spotlights social issues that we know to exist. It follows that Listen does have value regardless of its flaws.

MANSEL STIMPSON

Cast: Lúcia Moniz, Sophia Myles, Ruben Garcia, Maisie Sly, James Felner, Brian Bovell, Kiran Sonia Sawar, Ângela Pinto, António Capelo, Geoffrey Kirkness, Susanna Capellaro, Lola Weeks, Kiki Weeks.

Dir Ana Rocha de Sousa, Pro Paula Vaccaro, Ana Rocha de Sousa and Rodrigo Areias, Screenplay Paula Vaccaro, Aaron Brookner and Ana Rocha de Sousa, Ph Hatti Beanland, Pro Des Belle Mundi, Ed Tomás Baltazar, Music Nessi Gomes, Costumes Belle Mundi and Filipa Fabrica.

A Bando à Parte/Pinball London-Bohemia Media.
77 mins. Portugal/UK. 2020. UK Rel: 10 June 2022. Cert. 15.