King Of The Road
Director Patrick Steel
Countries United Kingdom
Duration 79 min
Synopsis
King Of The Road is a feature length documentary, combining observational footage and interviews, about a man sleeping rough on the streets of London as he tries to come to terms with his past and look to the future. The film focuses on Peter Pickles, a sixty year old former fairground operator, who has been living on the streets, sleeping rough, for the past five years. He has been in and out of hostels, but misses the camaraderie of the street when he is living indoors, and particularly the companionship of his best friend Lionel. Eventually, he agrees to try life in a hostel again, and he is pleased when, shortly afterwards, Lionel gets his own flat. But can they adjust to life inside, apart from each other, or will the pull of their freewheeling life on the street be too much to contain them? And can they return to the lives they lived before the street, or is it too late? Tired of the hostel, Peter decides to return to his home town of Dymchurch for the town’s biannual pageant. He and Lionel set off on foot for the seventy mile trip through the Kent countryside. But will life be the same when he returns?
King Of The Road is a feature length documentary, combining observational footage and interviews, about a man sleeping rough on the streets of London as he tries to come to terms with his past and look to the future. The film focuses on Peter Pickles, a sixty year old former fairground operator, who has been living on the streets, sleeping rough, for the past five years. He has been in and out of hostels, but misses the camaraderie of the street when he is living indoors, and particularly the companionship of his best friend Lionel. Eventually, he agrees to try life in a hostel again, and he is pleased when, shortly afterwards, Lionel gets his own flat. But can they adjust to life inside, apart from each other, or will the pull of their freewheeling life on the street be too much to contain them? And can they return to the lives they lived before the street, or is it too late? Tired of the hostel, Peter decides to return to his home town of Dymchurch for the town’s biannual pageant. He and Lionel set off on foot for the seventy mile trip through the Kent countryside. But will life be the same when he returns?