Film discussion: I, Daniel Blake

On Tuesday night, we will be discussing I, Daniel Blake, a film by British director Ken Loach, a man who has been making socially aware films since 1967. His film Kes is regarded as one of the best British films ever made, and he has twice won the Palm d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. And while his films all pretty much share his social realist convictions, his extraordinary career has lasted for over 50 years, not because his films are ideologically committed, but because they’re good!

I, Daniel Blake is the story of a British worker who gets trapped in the bureaucracy that maintains the country’s social safety net, caught between his doctor, who tells him he can’t work and government policy that says he must. There, as here, policy on the dole represents a policy clash of long standing.

The man who plays Daniel Blake is a British comedian, and his performance gives the role (and the movie) elements of humor that might now otherwise have appeared. Loach is far too savvy a filmmaker to make a movie that’s a chore to watch.

Critics have praised I, Daniel Blake as a masterwork of political film, focused on getting to the truth of Daniel Blake’s humanity and the strength of the relationship he forges with a single mother who is also struggling against a heartless system. The film’s tagline, “Fearsomely Moving, Fearsomely Tender” will probably give you the idea.

I won’t mention here any similarities that might exist between the plight of Brits under a Tory government and that of U.S. citizens under our current conservative Republican very odd government. But the topic might come up during the discussion.

I hope to see you there, which will be in the Music Hall Loft at 7:00.

And be sure to mark your calendars for the discussion of Their Finest on July 18 and The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman’s Portrait Photography on August 1.