It was a rare treat to catch the 18:20 showing of this film at the Grosvenor. It's the first time I've been to the cinema since a disastrous Watch with Baby experience in August, and I think I may be a little starved for entertainment. For example, the other day I found an old episode of Waterloo Road absolutely gripping.
I, Daniel Blake is Ken Loach's latest film, which he made after coming out of retirement because he was so upset with the re-election of the Conservative Government in 2014 (he's now 80). It's therefore a strongly political tale, of a Newcastle joiner who has a minor heart attack so is out of work. But the Healthcare Professional he meets doesn't like his attitude so deems him still fit to work, and he has to seek Jobseeker's Allowance even though he clearly can't work. He spirals towards poverty, meeting others along the way in a similar situation.
The film is thus a pretty blatant attack on the unfair benefits system, not unfair in the Daily Mail sense where Polish people steal all our money, but unfair in that hard-working people are constantly struggling against bureaucracy and silliness of an unfair system. Daniel is such a straight-forward and honest man and he is humiliated by a ridiculous system, so you're rooting for him all the way through.
What undermines the power of the film is that in order to create this sense of injustice, that motivates the entire film, there's the ridiculous premise that someone with a heart attack would be deemed fit to work. There are plenty of legitimate things to be upset about, without needing hyperbole. I only say this because the rest of the film seems so real, and almost feels like a documentary. There's no famous actors - the other main character is a displaced Londoner and her two children, played by Hayley Squires, who I was sure I'd seen before but think I must just have been thinking of Lily Allen.
Although it's set in Newcastle there's a bit of Glasgow humour, as a foul-mouthed Weegie befriends Daniel during his protest. A nod to Ken Loach's other films (my favourite is Sweet Sixteen).
It was a full house in the cinema I watched it in, and I think we were all quite moved by the end. On my way home I gave money to several beggars, and bought some sanitary towels for the first time in my life to donate to a food bank (in Waitrose).
Overall, a powerful and affecting film.
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