Today’s Observer New Review has a compelling feature on British Director Ken Loach’s stunning new film “I, Daniel Blake”.
Daniel Mays is one of the featured interviews:
I think this film is up there with Ken Loach’s best. It’s powerful and raw, and of all his work I don’t know if I’ve watched something with such an emotional punch. It’s a searingly honest and brutal portrayal of ordinary people living on the breadline. I really admire how un-showy it is: it’s very simplistic in its storytelling and I think that’s the film’s power. I think no other film-maker would want to make a film about these characters. You’d pass Daniel Blake in the street and not notice him, and yet Ken Loach has turned the camera round and moved me to tears with it, and made me angry.
It’s about a man who is widowed and pretty much goes to war against the state, and the unwavering level of red tape he has to go through for his jobseeker’s allowance. The characters’ descent into desperation just to make ends meet is heartbreaking. I thought the relationship between the two central characters was beautifully realised: it was completely truthful and the performances were pitch perfect. I don’t think I’ve cried this much for a film in a long time.
— Daniel Mays (@DanielMays9) September 8, 2016
Read Daniel Mays’s full interview online.
I, Daniel Blake is released in cinemas on 21 October.
Follow Daniel Mays on Twitter @DanielMays9