8. Kes's Death - Kes
Ken Loach's Kes is a classic entry into the British cinema canon, revolving around the story of a young boy (David Bradley) who befriends a kestrel, and how this comes to reflect both the state of the world around him and the boy's passage into adulthood, notably as the bird dies at the end of the film. The climax of the film is a fiercely emotional one, and Loach knew that he had to ensure his 14-year-old star was adequately emotionally prepared for the scene, so told him a fib that one of the three kestrels he interacted with during filming would have to be killed for these scenes. In reality, an already dead kestrel was used, but the pain and anguish you see in Bradley's screen performance is very real. It's cruel, but the result is one of cinema's most memorable young performances.