TRAILERS
Official US Trailer for Ken Loach's Palme d'Or Winner 'I, Daniel Blake'
by Alex Billington
October 13, 2016
Source: YouTube
"I'm just going ’round in circles." Sundance Selects + IFC Films have debuted another official US trailer for Ken Loach's new film titled I, Daniel Blake, which ended up winning the coveted Palme d'Or (the top prize) at the Cannes Film Festival back in May. We posted the UK trailer a few months ago. Dave Johns stars as Daniel Blake, an aging man living in the UK who must file for pension and benefits from the country after losing his job. He befriends a new neighbor, Katie played by Hayley Squires, a single mother having trouble making ends meet. The film has been earning buzz all year as it's one of the most emotional and provocative looks at how broken bureaucracy is in the UK right now. IFC will be putting this out in theaters in December, just before the end of the year, in hopes that it will find a good audience here in the US, too.
Here's the official US trailer for Ken Loach's I, Daniel Blake, direct from IFC's YouTube:
Daniel Blake (59) has worked as a joiner most of his life in Newcastle. Now, for the first time ever, he needs help from the State. He crosses paths with single mother Katie and her two young children, Daisy and Dylan. Katie's only chance to escape a one-roomed homeless hostel in London has been to accept a flat in a city she doesn’t know, some 300 miles away. Daniel and Katie find themselves in no-man's land, caught on the barbed wire of welfare bureaucracy as played out against the rhetoric of 'striver and skiver' in modern-day Britain. I, Daniel Blake is both written & directed by veteran English director Ken Loach, who won the Palme d'Or in 2006 for The Wind That Shakes the Barley. This film won the Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival. I, Daniel Blake opens in the UK in October, and in the US on December 23rd.
7 Comments
1
This looks so good. I'll be curious how they bob and weave around the immigrant issues in Britain.
DAVIDPD on Oct 13, 2016
2
The lack of jobs in Britain has nothing to do with immigrants. Though it doesn't stop a large part of the population believing it. 🙂 I think this film seems really critical of the benefits system in Britain, where someone like the man in question, worked hard and paid in, has a genuine illness, but is still refused the money he needs to survive. My father went through a similar thing in the last few months of his life, he was told his benefits would be cut if he didn't find a job. He had Motor Neurone Disease and could no longer speak, was in constant pain and often struggled to breathe, but they wanted him to go on the computer training course or apply for jobs stacking shelves. The way the staff act like robots and also get bonuses for cutting off a family's benefits is chilling.
Carpola on Oct 13, 2016
3
Ah man! I am sorry for the trouble your father went through. That sounds like an awful situation. Thank you for sharing your experience.
DAVIDPD on Oct 13, 2016
4
No probs David, thanks for replying, it's good that movies like this exist, I suppose to expose the flaws in the system.
Carpola on Oct 14, 2016
5
What a horrifying story, sorry to hear this.
Nash on Oct 14, 2016
6
Cheers Nash, it's been 10 years since he died, and with the system it's actually got a lot worse. there was an investigation after 2,600 people receiving sickness benefit died weeks after being declared fit for work. My story isn't unique though, it's just another part of our caring sharing society, my parents were lucky they had some savings, a lot of people in the same position killed themselves.
Carpola on Oct 14, 2016
7
That's life, yeah. And if you live it, it's not depressive, it makes you proud for what you are. We need more films from mr. Loach ...
shiboleth on Oct 14, 2016
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