Review in English

Crítica en Español

I don’t tend to see dramas with plots exploring the poverty topic that much, but from time to time, I do find some good films that are worth watching. It is very clear that this type of drama will always have a lot of sad scenes with troubled characters so this isn’t the type of film a viewer should watch if he/she is expecting to have fun.

I, Daniel Blake is a film about a man from the working class in his late 50s. He is a carpenter with a lot of experience that has been recently diagnosed with some heart issues and has been advised to stop working from the time being. The problem is that without working, he is unable to pay for his bills because he doesn’t have enough savings nor close family members to support him, but luckily for him, he is British and the welfare state will take care of him, or so he thought.

No suelo ver dramas con tramas que exploren mucho el tema de la pobreza, pero de vez en cuando encuentro algunas películas buenas que vale la pena ver. Está muy claro que este tipo de drama siempre tendrá muchas escenas tristes con personajes con problemas, por lo que este no es el tipo de película que un espectador debería ver si espera divertirse.

Yo, Daniel Blake es una película sobre un hombre de la clase trabajadora de unos 60-50 años. Es un carpintero con mucha experiencia al que recientemente le han diagnosticado algunos problemas cardíacos y le han aconsejado que deje de trabajar por un tiempo. El problema es que sin trabajo no puede pagar sus facturas porque no tiene suficientes ahorros ni familiares cercanos que lo mantengan, pero por suerte para él, es británico y el estado de bienestar se ocupará de él, o eso pensó.

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^{My own screenshot | Mi propio pantallazo}

This film will provide a dire picture regarding how dysfunctional can government bureaucracies become, and how sometimes the social system can really screw over an honest citizen instead of helping him which is how it is always advertised. We will see how Daniel Blake is absolutely clueless on how to navigate the complicated rules and demands to receive the benefits he feels he is entitled to thanks to the welfare state.

He won't be the only important character in this film by the way, we will also see how he gets to know, by chance, a young single mother with 2 small kids, and who is also facing a very difficult financial situation. They will provide each other with some time of emotional support and will become good friends in this harsh period of their lives. This female character is played by the actress Hayley Squires, and she looks so similar to Mila Kunis that for a second I thought it was her. Her performance was the best of the entire film, even better than that of the main actor Dave Johns.

Esta película proporcionará una imagen espantosa sobre cuán disfuncionales pueden volverse las burocracias gubernamentales y cómo, a veces, el sistema social puede realmente arruinar a un ciudadano honesto en lugar de ayudarlo, que es como siempre se anuncia. Veremos cómo Daniel Blake no tiene ni idea de cómo navegar por las complicadas reglas y requerimientos para recibir los beneficios a los que siente que tiene derecho gracias al estado de bienestar.

Por cierto, no será el único personaje importante de esta película, también veremos cómo llega a conocer, por casualidad, a una joven madre soltera con 2 hijos pequeños, y que además se enfrenta a una situación económica muy difícil. Se brindarán apoyo emocional el uno al otro y se convertirán en buenos amigos en este duro período de sus vidas. Este personaje femenino es interpretado por la actriz Hayley Squires, y se parece tanto a Mila Kunis que por un segundo pensé que era ella. Su actuación fue la mejor de toda la película, incluso mejor que la del actor principal Dave Johns.

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^{My own screenshot | Mi propio pantallazo}

Throughout the film, we will see how both of them cope with their situation, and how they seem to find themselves in such a deep hole that getting out appears to be almost impossible. The fact that Daniel Blake doesn't know anything about computers makes everything much harder for him, because in order to receive benefits there are some requirements related to filling forms on the web, and he just doesn't know how to do that.

This is a very dramatic and sad film, it won't cheer up the viewer but the story felt real and the performances seemed very authentic. I would recommend it to people in the mood for these serious and potentially touching films. However, if you don't want to watch characters suffering from depressing difficulties then skip this one.

A lo largo de la película, veremos cómo ambos afrontan su situación, y cómo parecen encontrarse en un agujero tan profundo que salir parece casi imposible. El hecho de que Daniel Blake no sepa nada de informática hace que todo sea mucho más difícil para él, porque para recibir beneficios hay algunos requisitos relacionados con el llenado de formularios en la web, y él simplemente no sabe cómo hacerlo.

Esta es una película muy dramática y triste, no alegrará al espectador, pero la historia se sintió real y las actuaciones parecían muy auténticas. Se lo recomendaría a las personas que estén de humor para estas películas serias y potencialmente conmovedoras. Sin embargo, si no quieres ver personajes que sufren dificultades deprimentes, entonces omitirla.

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^{My own screenshot | Mi propio pantallazo}

The Best

Lo Mejor

Great performance from the cast.
The story felt real and something that could very well happen in real life.

Gran actuación del elenco.
La historia se sintió real y algo que muy bien podría suceder en la vida real.

The Worst

Lo Peor

Sad and discouraging ending, but I guess not every drama can have a happy ending.

Un final triste y desalentador, pero supongo que no todos los dramas pueden tener un final feliz.

Review: AAA
In numbers: 7.5/10

Crítica: AAA
En números: 7.5/10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahWgxw9E_h4

^{After having suffered a heart-attack, a 59-year-old carpenter must fight the bureaucratic forces of the system in order to receive Employment and Support Allowance.}

REVIEW

From the title election is clear, this is the story of a Daniel Blake (Dave Johns), a middle-aged widower who works as a carpenter in Newcastle, England who just survived a fatal heart attack, lucky? Not really, because after that Blake's life does not get any better. It is recommended not to go back to work given his unstable condition, Blake volunteered to follow, ESA (Employment and Support Allowance), a social program of the British government in helping financially for its hard-to-find citizens due to long-term illness or people with disabilities. But for one reason or another, Blake failed to get an ESA that made him an appeal, but of course, it was not an easy matter. The combination of complicated bureaucracy and Blake's inability to adapt to the cruel system made him trapped in a vicious circle that seemed endless.

Through I, Daniel Blake, Ken Loach tries to illustrate how a system that is actually designed to help humanity can actually kill you slowly. Focusing on Paul Laverty's manuscript to the lower middle class workers, especially the elderly and the disadvantaged in life, Loach again used a natural approach to describing a social condition. It is interesting to see how Loach positions itself in the midst of conflict, bringing about a moral and social dilemma in which on the one hand there is a system designed to help those who are unable to with strict rules to avoid abuse but on the one hand the severity of the system labeled " Humanity "instead of being your master's weapon. It can be very inhumane when dealing with certain cases that require handling outside the manual, kicking out the aid applicants who do not qualify for granted without moral considerations.

Daniel Blake is just a fictional character, but not with the features Loach is currently encountering which is a compilation of real events that are happening on the ground. Makes the figure of Daniel Blake a representative of those who fail to penetrate the regulatory labyrinth. Loach introduces Blake as an elderly man with a big heart, even though he is rude and outspoken at times, but we can also see how stubborn Blake and his naivete are making his ESA rejected and troubling him to death. Blake is a human born outside the system, he is more eloquent using a keyboard or smartphones pencil that is too imperceptible to his old brain, so we can really understand when having dizzy seven when requested online requirements.

Not only Blake, Loach also introduced Katie (Hayley Squires), single mother two children who are in a situation and conditions are not far away. Wasted from London due to economic hardship, Katie is the victim that ESA rejected because it was just a few minutes late. His encounter with Blake made him a warm and hopeful and warm humorous drama but at the same time also filled with pain and despair, look at the scene in a devastating food bank. The combination of two different characters of this age in the two children added Katie then formed a relationship like a family. There is a happy togetherness in the midst of an uncertain situation.

If there are deficiencies in I, Daniel Blake may be because we easily see the end, even long before the movie finishes. But that did not matter, anyway, Loach had mended it very well thanks to the brilliant directing coupled with the slick performance of his two main players, Dave Johns and Hayley Squires who were able to move Laverty's emotions and narrations containing a flicking message about a humanitarian bureaucratic system that was apparently not so human For some less fortunate people.

RATING (8/10)

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I, Daniel Blake

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RATING (8/10)

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