I, Daniel Blake Review (2016)

4.5/5

*****Spoilers*****

This film is everything I hoped it would be and more. It is a simple, and sadly a common story, but it is beautiful. It is a character story. It doesn't pull punches, it doesn't gloss over or glamorise or exploit characters for political points. It is a story about simple human kindness and love in the face of a system that dehumanises the everyday person. 

I was worried that the story would turn into a love story between Katie and Daniel, but the film has much more complexity and integrity. It doesn't deal with any one issue although the central theme surrounds the benefits system for unemployment. It doesn't judge the characters. Daniel doesn't condemn Katie for becoming an escort, he just wants to help her not in a patriarchal way but just that it breaks his heart to see what she has to do to support her kids. He doesn't judge her or take some moral high ground, instead he is a beaten down man, beaten down by the system. 

The film touches on themes of mental illness, when Daniel talks about his wife who passed away. He doesn't go on about it or say she killed herself. He just uses this beautiful metaphor that they used to talk about about the ocean. In a lesser film this would have been made explicit for tear jerking effects. This restraint is heartbreaking and very realistic. 

What I love about this film is that all the characters have needs, but no one is explicitly using each other. Daniel fixes things around the house for Katie and she goes without dinner in thanks because she needs some dignity. In turn Daniel has no agenda other than to see Katie and her kids happy and doing ok. Maybe he needs to continue the role of "carer" or maybe it's nice to feel needed when he can't work because of his heart. 

Ultimately this film is a story about how the system doesn't only neglect the most vulnerable it beats them and wears them down. 

I was afraid the film would end with Daniel winning his case and tying everything up neatly. I feel the ending is apt and unfortunately true in many cases if not so literally. People are dying, becoming hopeless, starving and prostituting themselves because of the system.

However this film still makes me hopeful that we can have a voice.