
society


I, Daniel Blake
“It’s a monumental farce isn’t it. Looking for nonexistent jobs and all it does it humiliate me.”
The most powerful aspect of cinema is that not only can it suit every mood it can fulfill many different functions. It can engage, entertain and expose. It can also fill a need. Ken Loach has filled a need with this film. As a society we need this film. We need to watch this film and do something about the bureaucracy that is endangering and ending people’s lives. They need us to see it.
Daniel Blake (Johns) had a massive heart attack whilst at work. He’s been off work for weeks and his doctor’s are insistent that he is still not fit for work which means he’s in need to state welfare. But getting the help he is entitled to is far from easy – it involves endless assessments, meetings and form-filling. Single mother Katie (Squires) is in a simillar need herself – she was so in need of housing that she left London and everything they knew so they could finally escape the homeless shelter they had lived in for two years. Both soon realise that negotiating the red-tape of bureaucracy is an impossible challenge.
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It’s hard to phrase just how truly heart-wrenching this film is. By its finish I felt utterly devastated and dumbfounded at the farce-like awfulness that must be the cruel reality for many. I then stomped around Brighton town centre like some sort of social-warrior, embittered and empowered by what I had just seen. Countless headlines of certain newspapers (I feel no need to name or shame here – we all know to which ‘reputable’ establishments I refer to) that constantly flaunt headlines about benefits ‘scroungers’.
I do not question the fact there are some people who abuse the system. What I do question is the nature of the system, and the current tightenings that seem to occur daily, that is letting people fall through the gap. These people, as represented by Daniel and Katie, need the help. Help is seemingly available and yet the path to this help is not a path at all. It’s a hellish exercise in patience and waiting – not being able to speak to an actual human being (literally and metaphorically) and filling in paperwork in a multitude of formats without help and delayed response. The relatively minor character of Sheila (Percy) epitomises this. I’ve seen many powerful films this year and I’ve spent some cinematic time with a far few villains. The swift deep hatred I felt for Sheila will rank highly – her manner and tone seemed to aggravate me on a truly innate level. I had to remind myself that she was only an actress to try and lower my rage levels.
Thanks to the script and direction this would be a powerful story on it own. It’s thanks to the performances that it is so memorable and moving. Dave Johns is so likeable as Daniel, a man who would do anything for anyone yet is being utterly demoralised by his desperate and ignored pleas for help. Hayley Squires is also phenomenal as she finds herself being emotionally and mentally destroyed with each pitfall the administration puts in her way. There’s a simple message here that needs to be remembered – we are all just one or two steps away from the position the characters find themselves in. Those who find themselves trapped in the labyrinthian trappings of bureaucracy deserve our help not our disdain. We all have the choice to be the person who ignores Daniel as he makes his peaceful protest or the person who joins him.
The film is blunt, honest and shrewd – emphatic with its focus and Dickensian with its critique. Forgot ‘must-watch, this is ‘need-watch’.
Dir:Ken Loach
Country: UK Year: 2016 Run time: 100 minutes
Cast:Dave Johns, Hayley Squires, Sharon Percy, Briana Shann, Dylan McKiernan.
I, Daniel Blake opens in UK cinemas on October 21st.

Marguerite
A tragicomedy filled with laughs and tears
Strangely, and I hate to be one of those people, but I’m going to start of by drawing comparison with this film and Eddie the Eagle . Though this may not initially be an obvious comparison, Eddie is English and obsessed with skiing whilst Marguerite is French and obsessed with opera singing, the overriding link is the very obsession which drives them. Both characters NEED that one activity that makes them feel alive, makes them feel free and makes them feel joy unlike any other. Both are based on true stories, with Marguerite being loosely based on the life of Florence Foster Jenkins (a Meryl Streep-staring biography is out later this year). The crucial difference, however, is that Eddie could ski and had only practised ski jumping a year prior to entering the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. Marguerite has apparently been singing all of her life and cannot sing. It’s not just that she cannot sing, every single note she produces is so off-key and categorically awful, and she doesn’t even know it. All Margurite knows is the joy she feels when releasing the notes, not the fact they are atonal and truly, utterly dreadful. Her husband and friends, either out of loyalty, shame or amusement have kept the truth from her. This tension leads to the aforementioned tragedy and comedy.
Lucien Beaumont (Sylvain Dieuaide), an infamous newspaper critic, has gatecrashed a party escorted by his Dadaist artist friend Kyrill Von Priest (Aubert Fenoy). His attention is immediately taken by aspiring singer Hazel (Christa Théret) who performs as warm-up to the host. Baroness Marguerite (Catherine Frot) sweeps into the reception room in her large manor home, her room filled with guests for her charity recital. France’s finest and mightest, who all belong to the exclusive Amadeus club which she is a part of, are all there to see her. Marguerite breezes through the room, practically gliding through her audience, escorted by her loyal manservant Madelbos (Denis Mpunga) whilst desperately searching for her husband Georgeos (André Marcon) in the audience. Upon reaching the stage which is filled with her orchestra she turns to face them, her eyes sparkling with sheer and utter joy, her face is set and ready for that first note. Her mouth widens, forming that first note. What comes out of her mouth is unlike anything Lucien has heard before – it’s awful. Marguerite is not singing, she’s screeching, her voice is the embodiment of nails on a chalkboard or a cat screaming. Unbeknownst to Marguerite children run under tables away from her noise, many of the man sneak into a private room away from the horror. Lucien must restrain himself from laughing, Kyrill believes he has found modernist art and Hazel tries to hide her embarrassment from the poor woman. Finally Marguerite stops and her audience erupt into applause and admiration, flowers are thrust upon her and her talent is heralded. Lucien is bemused – she clearly does not know as her small aristocratic society has not told her – and feels compelled to write a review which is ladden in euphemism and backhanded sentiment. Marguerite does not read into it and is filled with joy at having her talent recognised. Events start to spiral, with a public concert planned. How will Marguerite cope when she discovers the truth?
I should point out that the above paragraph covers roughly the first 15 minutes of the film, leaving a solid 1 and 3/4 for you to discover on your own. I’ve not even discussed the role of the clown and the bearded lady! Marguerite is not always easy to watch, at times her singing or the events that it leads to are utterly mortifying. However it must be acknowledging that the mortification we feel on her behalf is due to how well the story is told to allow us to connect with Marguerite and possible even empathise with her. It would be so much easier to have a film about a bad singer and laugh at her bad singing. Instead what we have here is so much more complex, layered and pleasurable to watch. We root for Marguerite, we hope for her and we fear for her – whether that be about a performance or comments that are about to be made about her.
Marguerite devoids herself to her craft, she spends everything on collecting props, music sheets, attending performances and supporting new talent. She has an all-consuming need to perform, which leads to unspoken clashes with her seemingly-cold and adulterous husband. Never has a film character been so in need of a hug. There’s something so child-like about Marguerite, something so amusing yet bitterly sad. It’s a true tribute to the talent of the filmmakers and the actress herself that we connect with her the way we do, encouraging her even though we easily recognise how talented she is in her chosen field. Then somehow, throughout all this, we ultimately feel uplifted watching her journey. We all have something we pursue or like to believe we are really good at, even when we’re not At this point I’m really hoping you’re not thinking, ‘Ha! Yeah you are your film reviews”, but then Marguerite suggests that the opinion that others have about your talent should not be the one that is heralded, it should be your own and how it makes you that counts. And if how I feel about writing these reviews, and you out there hopefully reading them, is only a fraction of how singing makes Marguerite feel then I fully understand her.
It feels too overly simplistic to say this film is painful yet funny or that it is hilarious yet heartbreaking. It’s soul-baring exploration of passion. Exquisite.