Ladybird Ladybird

Maggie has four children and social services have taken all of them. When she meets Jorge, a Paraguayan refugee, and tries to build something new, the system moves in again. The question the film asks is hard: once a woman has been marked a bad mother, how does she unmark herself. Ken Loach took the story from a real case and worked as he always does. The most striking thing is the casting. Crissy Rock, who plays Maggie, was not a professional actress. She won the Silver Bear for Best Actress at Berlin along with awards from the Chicago International Film Festival and the London Film Critics Circle. Roger Ebert gave the film four stars and called hers the strongest performance in any film of the period, saying she deserved Oscar consideration. It was nominated for Best Foreign Film at the Independent Spirit Awards, and Janet Maslin placed it among her best films of 1994. The box office was tiny: 97,482 pounds. Who it is for: viewers who value social realism and criticism of institutions. Who it is not for: anyone looking for relief. The film never lets up, and Loach refuses to make anyone easy, the social workers included.