1I, DANIEL BLAKE MOVIE REVIEW Movie Description: The movie I, Daniel Blake surrounds the life of the 59- year old protagonist who is a widower and has suffered from a heart attack. His cardiologist advised him not to work but Daniel thinks otherwise after he does a work capability assessment and is denied employment and allowance support. He is extremely frustrated to know that his doctor has not contacted about the decision and then he appeals for an appeal; this process, he finds to be extremely tough because in order to do this, he has to fill up forms online and Daniel is not computer literate(Loach et al., 2017). While this journey, Daniel is seen to befriend Katie who is a poverty- stricken single mother; Daniel does his best to help this family and meanwhile suffers from poverty himself. He has to sell most of his belongings and suffer many troubles before the day of his appeal arrives. On the day of his appeal, Daniel finds himself anxious and suffers from a second heart attack that finally takes his life. At his funeral, Katie is seen to read out eulogy which was the speech that Daniel thought of reading at his appeal. This speech describes his feelings about how he was failed by the welfare system by being treated like a dog instead of a human being. Potential Theme: The movie has shown a lot of themes upon which the story has moved forward. There is the theme of bureaucratisation, a theme that indicates the iron cage of rationality and also some areas that show the loss of faith in the independent expertise(Seymour, 2017). It also shows alienation or individualism through the struggle of Daniel which he seemed to fight alone. The eulogy that was read out showed the loss of faith of Daniel on the independent expertise and the way he was treated even after proudly paying his dues in the society, left him hopeless(O'Brien, 2018). The state power and control decided most of the way Daniel should lead his life and under the power of this state, Daniel was not able to get a job and
2I, DANIEL BLAKE MOVIE REVIEW build a life back again from scratch. Bureaucratization made Daniel to be treated like a dog since he was being dragged from one department to another but his appeal was not met. Finally, when his appeal was heard, Daniel was so weak and exhausted that a mere anxiety created another heart attack that eventually took his life. Bigger Statement: The movie was subject to a lot of heated debates, but the movie genuinely depicted the kind of dystopian society that we reside in. It indicated the cruel and broken system and the realities of the society(Laverty et al., 2017). The movie created an impact on the society as numerous people were able to relate themselves to the kind of position that Daniel Blake was in. The movie intended to indicate the bureaucratic nightmare that gets stuck with the lives of the common people and only death can be the rescue. The kind of statement that the movie portrayed also showed a hint of the rise of neoliberal capitalism that comes with the welfare state.
3I, DANIEL BLAKE MOVIE REVIEW References: Laverty, P., Loach, K., Johns, D., & Squires, H. (2017).I, Daniel Blake. Entertainment One UK. Loach, K., Laverty, P., O'Brien, R., & Fenton, G. (2017).I, Daniel Blake. Impuls Home Entertainment. O'Brien, N. (2018). Administrative justice in the wake of I, Daniel Blake.The Political Quarterly,89(1), 82-91. Seymour, T. (2017). I, Daniel Blake ‘doesn’t represent reality’, says jobcentre manager.The Guardian,10.