Humanity Hallows Issue 4 Out Now!
Pick up your copy on campus or read online.
By Daniel J Broadley
There aren’t many filmmakers that match up to the likes of Ken Loach and even fewer that have such a socially critical directing style. He is without a doubt one of the greatest British filmmakers of all time. And now, with I, Daniel Blake, Ken Loach has won the Palme d’Or – the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival.
I, Daniel Blake follows the story of (surprise surprise) Daniel Blake, a carpenter who recently suffered a serious heart attack and requires state benefits whilst he’s out of work. However, due to austerity measures implemented by the Tory government, he has his benefit payments stopped as he is deemed fit to work by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). His doctors, however, say otherwise.
We follow Daniel through the bureaucratic jungle of the DWP, Job Centre and Job Seekers Allowance. All is not lost, however, when he befriends a single mother of two from London who is in a similarly desperate situation.
Ken Loach does not hold back on his feelings about the Tory government. This film is one of the most important films of the last few years as it takes a scathing look at the reality of austerity and the effect it has on ordinary people. It shows that people are not just a number on a screen or a statistic on the news, they are human beings and deserve to be treated as such.
Highly emotive and a masterpiece of socially critical cinema, I, Daniel Blake is Ken Loach is at his best. The film is available to view now at HOME cinema.
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