I, Daniel Blake | Ken Loach | NYFF 2016
Life isn’t fair. When you’re down on the dumps and struggling just to get by each and every day, life seems to find a way to keep you down. It takes a strong will and support system to fight against adversity and keep going strong. This is shown in harrowing fashion in I, Daniel Blake, the latest from director Ken Loach.
Daniel Blake (Dave Johns) is a blue-collar carpenter in Newcastle who recently suffered a bad injury that has left him disabled and unable to work. He’s able to get by for a bit with the British disabled and unemployment benefit service, but he’s having trouble explaining his circumstances to them and they just won’t listen. He struggles with computers and is unable to get through to any humans with their ridiculous standards and practices that are set up for people like himself to fail. With no way to work and no way to be sure he will continue to receive the aid he needs to keep going both financially and mentally, his whole world is crumbling as he knows it.
His situation is bad but while at the benefits office he overhears a young woman struggling to get any help from the staff just like him. It turns out that this young woman named Katie (Hayley Squires) just moved to Newcastle because she couldn’t afford to live in London anymore as a single mother of two kids (Briana Shann, Dylan McKiernan). She tries to start a new life in an unfamiliar area, and since the people assigned to try and help her aren’t doing their job, Daniel steps in and offers to help them out.
As the movie progresses Daniel and Katie forge a real friendship that borders the line of friendship and family. They look out for one another and do all they can to act as a dual support system to keep each other going through these trying times. Thank god they have each other, as Loach and screenwriter Paul Laverty put these characters through some truly bleak and trying times that are flat out depressing and hard to watch (one particular scene of Katie in a food bank is a true standout moment).
Loach gives this film a natural real life feel that often feels more like a documentary than a film. This is in part to the outstanding performances from both Dave Johns and Hayley Squires. It’s hard to believe that this was the first feature film performance from Johns, best known as a stand-up comedian. His performance dives deep and touches on something human and real. The same can be said for Hayley Squires who is every bit as brilliant as her co-star, finding layers upon layer of depth and emotion to break your heart.
It’s a tough film to watch and it offers no happy endings, but it definitely touches on something real and raw that is only getting more relevant every day. It’s ending may be a bit predictable, but it did feel like the only real way to get the message across in big bold letters.
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