Yo, Daniel Blake (2016) is a British film by filmmaker Ken Loach, starring Dave Johns and Hayley Squires. Loach is a director who is characterized by filmography marked by social dramas, by a raw realism with ideological tints.
Loach cinema is based on reality itself and uses audiovisual media with a clear objective: to denounce inequalities, contemporaneity and the consequences of advances not seen in the media.
- At the beginning of the twentieth century.
- Wars.
- Revolutions.
- Great Depression.
- Etc.
- Devised scenarios that covered all the coverage of the press.
- The filmmakers began to focus their attention on reality.
- To be inspired by the reading of newspapers.
Realistic cinema has several aspects, has been linked to documentary cinema and has acquired different connotations in each country, in France, for example, jean Renoir stands out and, in Italy, with neorealism, cinema has its roots in postwar Italy, in a devastated country that has given us one of the most interesting movements in the history of cinema.
It is about showing reality as it is, without makeup, without ornaments, simply representing society at a specific time and place. Loach follows in the footsteps of other realistic writers and uses his cinema to launch an ideological discourse and invite us to reflect on the world around us.
A British filmmaker who gave us titles such as Riff Raff (1990), Winds of Freedom (2006) and the one we care about: Me, Daniel Blake.
Europe, the old continent, a space that houses many countries, a myriad of identities and cultures, this place of conquerors, history, wealth, but also war and suffering.
An idealized place, where Eurocentrism sometimes prevents us from seeing beyond our borders and even ignoring the realities that unfold there Is Europe synonymous with culture, progress, old and new, a continent full of opportunities?Or at least that’s what it looks like.
The UK is one of the great icons of the continent, but also of the world, is it one of those places that, for us who look from below, impresses with its beauty, its culture?It’s home to Shakespeare, the Beatles, and even Harry Potter. What could be bad out there?
I, Daniel Blake, is it the story of the ordinary man, who doesn’t stand out, the neighbor who lives next door, the man who’s going to buy bread in the morning?Anyway, the European man, or the world, from any corner or place, who survives progress as much as he can.
Behind the common man lies the protest, the harsh criticism of governments, the administration, those who must protect us and yet they do not.
They want productive beings and consumers, people willing to give everything for the company, who never get sick, who have no connection What happens to a scenario that has changed so much in such a short time?What happens to an elderly person, 50 who is unemployed and sick?
Daniel Blake is a widowed carpenter who, after suffering a heart attack, advises him not to return to work, yet for the state, his illness does not reach the point of not letting him work, and will have to make him find a job.
Among the endless red tape, Blake meets Katie, a unemployed young mother who can barely feed her children. Technological advances and an extremely rigid state will make the character situation even more difficult.
Daniel and Katie’s situation is not the most common, but it is also not an isolated case, Loach tends to show the worst facets of society, describing, in this case, how an ordinary man, with work and home, can end up in poverty.
That’s where the magic of the film lies, in the fact that it can happen to anyone, that we’re all, in a way, Daniel Blake.
Work and pay taxes, buy a house, have a full fridge; When we’re older, will we get a pension in compensation?All this is normal, which we assume at least for the duration of the work. As citizens, we have certain obligations to the state and, in return, enjoy peace and stability. .
The state needs us and we need the state, so far everything seems to be a totally fair exchange What happens when we lose our jobs and are forced to fulfill our obligations as citizens?How do I pay rent if the refrigerator cannot be covered?It’s a suffocating situation that triggers Loach’s complaint.
Daniel Blake will have to deal with the bitter bureaucracy, he will have to fight to get out of this situation where he is overwhelmed, he finds he is in a dead end from which it is almost impossible to get out: his health prevents him from leaving. working, but if you don’t work you can’t live in a society where everything, absolutely everything, is bought with money.
The film shows the hell of today’s city, the suburbs, the social restaurants and the marginality to which some people are subjected, and in this case, far from portraying topics such as minorities, portrays the man standing, the Briton whose fate seems to have disappeared.
Thus, ordinary, the proper name to which the title of the film appeals, makes us partake of its suffering and makes us reflect on our own situation in society.
His name, the name we heard by the title, that real and common name, Daniel Blake, is the key to the complaint, he’s a victim of the government, a victim who could very well be your father, your grandfather, your uncle or even yourself.
Daniel Blake is a 50-year-old man, born in the 20th century, when the smartphone did not exist and the word internet was largely unknown. The world has advanced in leaps and bounds, discarding paper and replacing it with screens.
Daniel’s left behind, he can’t use a computer, and nobody’s going to save him, otherwise you don’t fill out the forms, you won’t be able to get out of jail, but the digital divide won’t include despair. Evil is embodied by the government, the victims are those citizens who did not know (or wanted to) protect.
A scenario known to all will be the point of reference for the complaint; contemporary cities are the locus terribilis in which ordinary citizens will suffer the cruelty of their leaders.
The portrait of the impassive employee, who does his job because he has no choice; Prisoner of unemployment, disease and poverty?All this deserved the applause of the film of the public and critics, in addition to the Palme d’Or at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival.
The reflection that brings us functionality never falls on the surface of indifference, each of us could be Daniel Blake, each of us unconsciously participates in a blind and deaf system to our needs, and will not hesitate to abandon ourselves when we stop contributing, for one reason or another.
They are not interested in sick middle-aged men, are not interested in single mothers, are not interested in obligations and are not interested in staff; All that matters is productivity.
If you are not inside, you are lost; If you stay behind, it’s going to be hard to start over. A dark situation, perhaps very sad, but real, with its own name and identity. That’s what Loach describes in Me, Daniel Blake.
“I, Daniel Blake, request my consultation with welfare before I starve to death. ” – Daniel Blake–