I, Daniel Blake @ 10 Years Old

Ken Loach’s second Palme d’Or winner turns 10 this year, and it’s sadly as relevant as ever.

I, Daniel Blake takes aim at the welfare system in the United Kingdom with the unlikely combination of laser precision and sledgehammer subtlety. The film opens with Daniel Blake being interviewed about his recent heart attack. He’s a salt of the earth type; no nonsense. Likeable. He’s a widower and is now unable to work, so he’s seeking a pension to help him get by until he might be healthy enough to work again.

What Daniel discovers is that the system is not designed to actually help people like him (how absurd!). And not just him, he comes across Katie, a woman a generation or 2 younger than him, with 2 kids a further generation younger of her own. He’s unable to get support, and neither is she.

Featuring a barn-burner intro from Andy Williams; he and Bo Nicholson couldn’t wait to get into this film in the latest episode of MovieVersaries, a conversation filled with pain and anger at the real life situations I, Daniel Blake so accurately observes. But also filled with admiration for the film and its simple techniques, as they navigate the question of whether it is ‘Capital G Great’.

Search for ‘MovieVersaries’ on your favourite podcast player, follow this link or listen to the episode with the below embed.