Unit 1, Part C- I Daniel Blake Review

This Poster is from IMP Awards

I Daniel Blake, directed by Ken Loach-  an influential director with a passion to expose the problems in some modern systems and show the stark realities of life - was outstanding. This particular film aimed to show how the hierarchy of the welfare system can affect the vulnerable and I think it did just that. I’d never seen anything like it before and was incredibly impressed by the impact it created and the story it told.

In general, I really enjoyed the docu-style type of cinematography and feel. There were more long takes, close ups, and many times where we just saw Daniel’s face and felt his emotions. I thought that this was really effective in helping the audience feel his pain and understand what he was feeling -utter distress at times. Literally the only thing that I can think of that I didn’t like about the film was the weird black outs that came in between almost every scene. I didn’t really understand why they would put black outs when they could’ve just gone on to the next scene...perhaps they were there to let the audience think a little about what’s just gone on or maybe to make the audience think of the beginning of the film when all we could hear was Daniel’s voice and see a blank, black, screen?

I did however, really like the mise-en-scene. I noticed it had a pretty plain colour palette of light blues, whites, greys, and beige (with some green as well). I thought that this was really effective in making the audience believe it was a true story because in England, everything seems to have a more grey tinge to it (considering it’s always cloudy). It also reflected the atmosphere of the film, where people didn’t feel noticed or important. If everything is grey and costumes blend into the background, no one stands out.

I was also really impressed with the actor who played Daniel Blake, Dave Johns. I’ve never seen him in anything else before, and I think this was his first film. Considering this, I think that he did incredibly well and was very convincing. No spoilers but, so many people around me were crying at the end of the film! He truly was Daniel Blake himself, through and through. I was equally happy with the girl who played Katie, Hayley Squires, whose story legitimately almost made me want to cry more than Daniel’s story. Her acting was terribly convincing and beautiful; I felt so sick for her and her children having to go through what they did to survive.

This film truly astounded me beyond belief and has made me want to watch more films that are similar to it. I am in love with films that make me think and this film made me thankful for the opportunities that I have and the supportive people I have around me. I learnt a lot from this film about the welfare system, which I honestly was unaware of as a problem beforehand...this means that Ken Loach has achieved his aim of making people aware and connected to problems such as these. If people feel connected, they feel inspired to change the problem.

This is part of why I preferred watching this film in a cinema rather than at home by myself. The atmosphere created by watching it with others, and hearing their audible reactions (gasps and crying, etc.), really made me realise how relevant this problem is to everyday people. It opened my eyes to feel everyone's reactions and I would not have had the same experience if I had watched it alone, or even, just at home with my parents.