When Ken Loach won his
second Palme D'or for
I, Daniel Blake, it
was presented to him by Mad Max director
George Miller and Mel 'Sugar Tits' Gibson. This is ironic because as
Loach's new film began, I presumed that I was watching one of those
post-apocalyptic, world's-gone-to-shit movies. Then I realised that
rather than being set in the ruins of the old world, I,
Daniel Blake was
actually taking place in modern day Newcastle. Meh, it's an easy
mistake to make. In this film, the Mordor-alike Newcastle has its own
Eye Of Sauron ensuring that the orc-ish Geordies are kept under
control. However rather than being a giant flaming tower, it's the
Conservative Government and its Orwellian benefit system that aims
to bewilder the sick and the vulnerable into a conveniently cheap
death. Times are tough and money is tight, and this movie aims to remind us of how
Cameron once said “We're all in it together”. Although what
we're 'in' might differ depending on where you fall within
society. Where some people are finding themselves heading towards
being in a poverty-related early grave, others are simply enjoying
another bottle of champers whilst being shaft-deep in a dead pig's
mouth.
