I, Daniel Blake Review

Ken Loach has been making films for 50 years, at 80 years old he is in the habit of saying that his most recent film will be his last film, then he gets another idea and makes another one. His latest film I, Daniel Blake won the Palme d'Or at Cannes earlier this year and once again shows that 80 years old is no time to slow down when you're still at the top of your game.

I, Daniel Blake focuses on the story of Daniel Blake (Dave Johns), a talented carpenter and friendly bloke from Newcastle. Daniel has suffered a heart attack and his doctor has said that he is unfit for work, but in the opening scene we see Daniel put through the department for work and pensions fitness for work test and we witness the start of Daniel's frustrations. Whilst at the Job Centre Daniel meets young mum Katie (Hayley Squires) and her two children Daisy and Dylan who have recently moved up from London in order to find a council house, a friendship forms between the two based on helping each other in their time of hardship.

What Ken Loach is better at than most, is the ability to observe natural human behaviour without imposing on it with any noticable influence. His habit of using mostly unknown actors is crucial in audiences believing that these are real people, they are, of course, characters, but Loach makes you understand that though the characters are fiction and the events are constructed, they are a reflection of the society we have currently in Britain.

In the past, Loach's films have felt far too angry for them to be as affecting as they could be, but here Loach has toned down his anger in favour of overwhelming despair and frustration at the system. The references to 'sanctions' and 'decision makers' seem Orwellian, but they're also entirely honest. It helpfully doesn't demonise the workers of the DWP, they're merely cogs in a very cruel machine, and the likeability of Dave John's performance  means that we feel consistent empathy for him throughout, sharing in his endless frustrations.

Hayley Squires performance as Katie is incredibly affecting. She carries a weight on her the whole film with out it ever being too morose or downbeat, she's a mother trying her best in the most difficult of circumstances and all she really wants is to provide her children with the best lives possible. It's all the little moments of frustration and resignation in Squires performance that really sell the character.

Loach has had a 50 year career and one scene in I, Daniel Blake may well be the high watermark of his filmography. Much has been commented on how the food bank scene is too much, or a bit disingenuous, but they fail to take into account that Britain has seen a colossal rise in the number of families eating out of food banks since 2010. From the moment the scene begins it becomes a masterclass in capturing human behaviour, its Squires desperation that the scene focuses on, but its everyone of the extras and supporting actors who provide all of the little touches that make it so affecting.

Despite its subject matter, it is, as ever with a Loach film, not entirely doom and gloom. The fact that actor Dave Johns is more known as a comedian is incredibly beneficial to the film, all the aside moments with him and his neighbour give the film some much needed comedy. It's unfortunate that given all the subtlety that Loach operates in throughout the film, that he feels the need towards the end of the film to get on his soap box, in what is an incredibly natural film its a moment that feels disingenuous.

Loach may be circling on retirement, but at 80 years old there are few British voices in cinema with this much passion and talent to take the current establishment to task for the state of the country. As with all Loach films though, I, Daniel Blake is a call for people to come together in harsh times, its basically a far more intelligent and longer way of saying, "Fuck you, tories". 

(5 Stars)