Raining Stones

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "Raining Stones" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (May 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

1993 British film

Raining Stones

Directed by| Ken Loach
Written by| Jim Allen
Produced by| Sally Hibbin
Starring| Bruce Jones
Cinematography| Barry Ackroyd
Distributed by| First Independent Films

Release dates

* May 1993 (1993-05) (Cannes)
* October 8, 1993 (1993-10-08) (United Kingdom)

Running time

| 90 minutes
Country| United Kingdom
Language| English
Box office| £256,636 (UK)[1]

Raining Stones is a 1993 film directed by Ken Loach and starring Bruce Jones, Julie Brown, Ricky Tomlinson, Tom Hickey and Gemma Phoenix. It tells the story of a man who cannot afford to buy his daughter a First Communion dress, and makes disastrous choices in trying to raise the money. The film won the Jury Prize at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival.[2]

## Plot

[edit]

England is in the midst of a depression with crushing unemployment. Bob and his best friend Tommy engage in all manner of schemes to make money, including stealing sheep to sell to local butchers, tearing up turf from government buildings to re-sell, and cleaning out bathroom pipes. Bob's wife Anne tries to help, but doesn't have marketable skills (having been sacked from a seamstress factory for not knowing how to sew). Despite their best efforts, they are unable to make any job stick or get ahead of their debt. Despite their tenuous financial condition, Bob plans to buy a brand new outfit for his daughter Coleen's First Communion, even though doing so is prohibitively costly.

Eventually, Bob secretly gets a loan so he can afford Coleen's outfit and party. He's unable to pay it back, so the lender sells the debt to a vicious local loan shark, who forces his way into the house while Bob is out, steals Anne's jewelry, and makes numerous threats that he will injure Coleen if he's not paid soon. When Bob gets home, he's outraged at the trauma the loan shark inflicted on his family. He confronts the loan shark in a parking garage outside of a bar. The pair get into a fight and the loan shark beats Bob up and threatens to do even worse. However, as the loan shark begins driving off, Bob smashes his windscreen with a wrench. This causes the drunken loan shark to lose control of the vehicle and smash into a column, killing the loan shark. Bob grabs the notebook containing all delinquent accounts from the loan shark's pocket, and flees into the night.

Bob runs to the local church, where he tells the priest what happened and vows to turn himself in to the police. The kindhearted Priest tells Bob not to turn himself in, noting that Bob didn't kill the loan shark himself and, indeed, many neighbourhood folks will now be relieved. He commands Bob to pray for the loan shark's rotten soul, and burns the account book.

The next day, Bob attends Communion as Coleen is adorable in her new outfit. Despite it being a wonderful day, Bob is shown being withdrawn and nervous, still feeling guilty about what he's done.

## Cast

[edit]

* Anne Marti - Anne Martin
* Bruce Jones – Bob
* Julie Brown – Anne
* Gemma Phoenix – Coleen
* Ricky Tomlinson – Tommy
* Tom Hickey – Father Barry
* Mike Fallon – Jimmy
* Ronnie Ravey – Butcher
* Lee Brennan – Irishman
* Karen Henthorn – Young Mother
* Christine Abbott – May
* Geraldine Ward – Tracey
* William Ash – Joe
* Matthew Clucas – Sean
* Anna Jaskolka – Shop Assistant
* Jonathan James – Tansey
* Ken Strath - Councillor Strath

## Reception

[edit]

The film has been given universal critical acclaim and holds a rating of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. It won the prestigious Grand Prix of the Belgian Syndicate of Cinema Critics.

The film opened on 8 October 1993 in the United Kingdom on 11 screens and grossed £37,211 for the weekend, finishing in 13th place at the UK box office.[3] It went on to gross £256,636 in the UK.[1]

## Year-end lists

[edit]

* Honorable mention – Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times[4]
* Honorable mention – Ed Gonzalez, Slant Magazine[5]

## Filming locations

[edit]

This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

* Raining Stones was shot in and around the Langley Estate in Middleton, Greater Manchester.
* Bob Williams' flat – as well as the butcher's shop in the opening scenes – were opposite the junction of Wood Street and Windemere Road.
* The pub from the car park of which Bob's transit van was stolen was The Falcon on the corner of Threlkeld Road and Bowness Road. The Falcon has since been demolished and the site remained undeveloped as of 2010.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "UK films and co-productions". Screen International. 14 January 1994. p. 50.
2. ^ "Festival de Cannes: Raining Stones". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 22 August 2009.
3. ^ "True Brits". Screen International. 15 October 1993. p. 34.
4. ^ Turan, Kenneth (25 December 1994). "1994: YEAR IN REVIEW : No Weddings, No Lions, No Gumps". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
5. ^ Gonzalez, Ed (14 August 2005). "Ed Gonzalez: Top 10s". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 24 October 2023.

## External links

[edit]

* Raining Stones at IMDb
* Raining Stones at the BFI's Screenonline

* v
* t
* e

Works directed by Ken Loach

Television|

* Up the Junction (1965)
* The End of Arthur's Marriage (1965)
* Cathy Come Home (1966)
* In Two Minds (1967)
* The Big Flame (1969)
* The Rank and File (1971)
* Days of Hope (1975)
* The Price of Coal (1977)
* The Gamekeeper (1980)
* A Question of Leadership (1981)
* Which Side Are You On? (1985)

Feature
films|

* Poor Cow (1967)
* Kes (1969)
* Family Life (1971)
* Black Jack (1979)
* Looks and Smiles (1981)
* Fatherland (1986)
* Hidden Agenda (1990)
* Riff-Raff (1991)
* Raining Stones (1993)
* Ladybird, Ladybird (1994)
* Land and Freedom (1995)
* Carla's Song (1996)
* My Name Is Joe (1998)
* Bread and Roses (2000)
* The Navigators (2001)
* Sweet Sixteen (2002)
* Ae Fond Kiss... (2004)
* Tickets (2005)
* The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006)
* It's a Free World... (2007)
* Looking for Eric (2009)
* Route Irish (2010)
* The Angels' Share (2012)
* Jimmy's Hall (2014)
* I, Daniel Blake (2016)
* Sorry We Missed You (2019)
* The Old Oak (2023)

Documentaries|

* The Save the Children Fund Film (1971)
* A Contemporary Case for Common Ownership (1995)
* The Flickering Flame (1997)
* McLibel (1997)
* The Spirit of '45 (2013)

* v
* t
* e

Cannes Film Festival Jury Prize

1946–1973|

* The Battle of the Rails (1946)
* All About Eve (1951)
* We Are All Murderers (1952)
* Knave of Hearts (1954)
* Lost Continent (1955)
* The Mystery of Picasso (1956)
* Kanał / The Seventh Seal (1957)
* Mon Oncle (1958)
* Stars (1959)
* L'Avventura / Odd Obsession (1960)
* Mother Joan of the Angels (1961)
* The Trial of Joan of Arc / L'Eclisse (1962)
* Harakiri /  The Cassandra Cat (1963)
* Woman in the Dunes (1964)
* Kwaidan (1965)
* Alfie (1966)
* Z (1969)
* The Falcons / The Strawberry Statement (1970)
* Love / Joe Hill (1971)
* Slaughterhouse-Five (1972)
* The Hourglass Sanatorium / The Invitation (1973)

1980–2000|

* The Constant Factor (1980)
* Kharij (1983)
* Colonel Redl (1985)
* Thérèse (1986)
* Yeelen / Shinran: Path to Purity (1987)
* A Short Film About Killing (1988)
* Jesus of Montreal (1989)
* Hidden Agenda (1990)
* Europa / Out of Life (1991)
* Dream of Light / An Independent Life (1992)
* The Puppetmaster / Raining Stones (1993)
* La Reine Margot (1994)
* Don't Forget You're Going to Die / Carrington (1995)
* Crash (1996)
* Western (1997)
* Class Trip / Festen (1998)
* The Letter (1999)
* Blackboards / Songs from the Second Floor (2000)

2002–present|

* Divine Intervention (2002)
* At Five in the Afternoon (2003)
* Tropical Malady (2004)
* Shanghai Dreams (2005)
* Red Road (2006)
* Persepolis / Silent Light (2007)
* Il Divo (2008)
* Thirst / Fish Tank (2009)
* A Screaming Man (2010)
* Polisse (2011)
* The Angels' Share (2012)
* Like Father, Like Son (2013)
* Mommy / Goodbye to Language (2014)
* The Lobster (2015)
* American Honey (2016)
* Loveless (2017)
* Capernaum (2018)
* Bacurau / Les Misérables (2019)
* Ahed's Knee / Memoria (2021)
* EO / The Eight Mountains (2022)
* Fallen Leaves (2023)
* Emilia Pérez (2024)

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template