A History of British Film
Early British Comedy
Early Hitchcock
Introduction to Humphrey Jennings
Humphrey Jennings and Third Cinema
The Stars Look Down / The Proud Valley – Conflict and Unity
The Renaissance of the 1980s
Film On Four

Physical / Mental Unity

In The Proud Valley the family functions as a unit, united not just physically but in their goals and aspirations too. In contrast to this the Fenwick family of The Stars Look Down are not united either physically or mentally. Physically the family are divided, firstly when Mr Fenwick is imprisoned, then when Davey leaves for university and finally when both Mr Fenwick and Hewey are killed. The family also have conflicting aspirations, shown when Mrs Fenwick mourns the fact that young people are leaving the pit, (her two sons are intending to do just this.) When it is time for Davey to leave for university there is an awkward farewell scene when he seems to wait for some show of emotion from his mother although it is not forthcoming. This is illustrative of the conflict in the family.

Jeffrey Richards, in The Age Of The Dream Palace, says of this scene, ‘The single shot of her watching David leaving for Tynecastle, with the pithead which has dominated the landscape of her life and will yet rob her of husband and son reflected in the window over her, wordlessly but eloquently sums up the nature of her existence.’