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I, Daniel Blake

  • 20162016
  • RR
  • 1h 40m
IMDb RATING
7.8/10
59K
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
Dave Johns in I, Daniel Blake (2016)
A middle aged carpenter who requires state welfare after injuring himself, is joined by a single mother in a similar scenario.
Play trailer2:23
4 Videos
31 Photos
  • Drama

After surviving a heart-attack, a 59-year-old carpenter must fight bureaucratic forces to receive Employment and Support Allowance.After surviving a heart-attack, a 59-year-old carpenter must fight bureaucratic forces to receive Employment and Support Allowance.After surviving a heart-attack, a 59-year-old carpenter must fight bureaucratic forces to receive Employment and Support Allowance.

IMDb RATING
7.8/10
59K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Ken Loach
  • Writer
    • Paul Laverty(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Dave Johns
    • Hayley Squires
    • Sharon Percy
Top credits
  • Director
    • Ken Loach
  • Writer
    • Paul Laverty(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Dave Johns
    • Hayley Squires
    • Sharon Percy
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 199User reviews
    • 260Critic reviews
    • 78Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Won 1 BAFTA Award
      • 31 wins & 38 nominations total

    Videos4

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 2:23
    Official Trailer
    I, Daniel Blake
    Trailer 2:00
    I, Daniel Blake
    I, Daniel Blake
    Clip 1:38
    I, Daniel Blake
    I, Daniel Blake
    Clip 1:55
    I, Daniel Blake

    Photos31

    Briana Shann in I, Daniel Blake (2016)
    Dave Johns and Hayley Squires in I, Daniel Blake (2016)
    Dave Johns, Hayley Squires, Briana Shann, and Dylan McKiernan in I, Daniel Blake (2016)
    Dave Johns, Ken Loach, Hayley Squires, and Dylan McKiernan in I, Daniel Blake (2016)
    Dave Johns, Hayley Squires, Briana Shann, and Dylan McKiernan in I, Daniel Blake (2016)
    Dave Johns, Hayley Squires, Briana Shann, and Dylan McKiernan in I, Daniel Blake (2016)
    I, Daniel Blake (2016)
    I, Daniel Blake (2016)
    Dave Johns, Hayley Squires, Briana Shann, and Dylan McKiernan in I, Daniel Blake (2016)
    Dave Johns, Hayley Squires, Briana Shann, and Dylan McKiernan in I, Daniel Blake (2016)
    Dave Johns, Hayley Squires, Briana Shann, and Dylan McKiernan in I, Daniel Blake (2016)
    Kate Rutter in I, Daniel Blake (2016)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Dave Johns
    Dave Johns
    • Daniel Blakeas Daniel Blake
    Hayley Squires
    Hayley Squires
    • Katieas Katie
    Sharon Percy
    • Sheilaas Sheila
    Briana Shann
    Briana Shann
    • Daisyas Daisy
    Dylan McKiernan
    • Dylanas Dylan
    • (as Dylan Phillip McKiernan)
    Kate Rutter
    Kate Rutter
    • Annas Ann
    Kema Sikazwe
    • Chinaas China
    Magpie Richens
    Magpie Richens
    • Piperas Piper
    • (as Steven Richens)
    Amanda Payne
    • Employment Support Allowance Assessoras Employment Support Allowance Assessor
    Chris McGlade
    • At the Sawmillas At the Sawmill
    Shaun Prendergast
    Shaun Prendergast
    • At the Sawmillas At the Sawmill
    Gavin Webster
    Gavin Webster
    • At the Sawmillas At the Sawmill
    Sammy T. Dobson
    • Specialist Nurseas Specialist Nurse
    Mickey Hutton
    • Neighbour with dogas Neighbour with dog
    Colin Coombs
    Colin Coombs
    • Postmanas Postman
    David Murray
    David Murray
    • Benefit Enquiry Line Advisoras Benefit Enquiry Line Advisor
    Stephen Clegg
    • Job Centre Floor Manageras Job Centre Floor Manager
    Andy Kidd
    • Job Centre Guardas Job Centre Guard
    • Director
      • Ken Loach
    • Writer
      • Paul Laverty(screenplay)
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit
    A 59 year old carpenter recovering from a heart attack befriends a single mother and her two kids as they navigate their way through the impersonal, Kafkaesque benefits system. With equal amounts of humor, warmth and despair, the journey is heartfelt and emotional until the end.
    • bureaucracy
    • psychological violence
    • united kingdom
    • great britain
    • carpenter
    • 85 more
    • Plot summary
    • Add synopsis
    • Taglines
      • Intensely Moving and Utterly Heartbreaking!
    • Genre
      • Drama
    • Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
      • Rated R for language
    • Parents guide

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      From the end credits: «A very special thanks to workers within the DWP [Department for Work and Pensions] and PCS [Public and Commercial Services] Union who provided us with invaluable information but who must remain anonymous.»
    • Goofs
      When Daniel is in the benefits office the adviser Ann notices he looks unwell and sits him down and gives Daniel a plastic cup of water. Initially when Daniel gets the cup there are two or three cups stick together, as sometimes happens, the film then cuts away and then back and Daniels cup has become just one plastic cup.
    • Quotes

      [last lines]

      Katie: They call this a "pauper's funeral" because it's the cheapest slot, at 9:00. But Dan wasn't a pauper to us. He gave us things that money can't buy. When he died, I found this on him. He always used to write in pencil. And he wanted to read it at his appeal but he never got the chance to. And I swear that this lovely man, had so much more to give, and that the State drove him to an early grave. And this is what he wrote. "I am not a client, a customer, nor a service user. "I am not a shirker, a scrounger, a beggar, nor a thief. "I'm not a National Insurance Number or blip on a screen. "I paid my dues, never a penny short, and proud to do so. "I don't tug the forelock, but look my neighbour in the eye and help him if I can. "I don't accept or seek charity. "My name is Daniel Blake. I am a man, not a dog. "As such, I demand my rights. "I demand you treat me with respect. "I, Daniel Blake, am a citizen, "nothing more and nothing less."Thank you.

    • Crazy credits
      A very special thanks to workers within the DWP [Department for Work and Pensions] and PCS [Public and Commercial Services] Union who provided us with invaluable information but who must remain anonymous. [Government edict that public employees in these departments cannot speak publicly about their work.]
    • Connections
      Featured in Versus: The Life and Films of Ken Loach (2016)
    • Soundtracks
      Sailing By
      (1963)

      Composed by Ronald Binge

      Performed by The Alan Perry/William Gardner Orchestra as The Perry/Gardner Orchestra

      Conducted by Ronald Binge

      Licensed courtesy of Mozart Edition (Great Britain) Ltd.

    User reviews199

    Review
    Top review
    7/10
    Unapologetically Political, Openly Moral
    After Ken Loach's latest film "I, Daniel Blake" (2016) took home the most prestigious film award of the year, Palme d'Or at Cannes earlier this summer, there has been a lot of discussion or at least anticipation of discussion on the film. The Guardian, for one, published a long article where people from all walks of life shared their differing opinions on the film. As a fierce story of social relevance, telling about an ailing carpenter whose life goes to pieces in the vast sea of bureaucracy, "I, Daniel Blake" is bound to be criticized for being didactic and demagogic as it hits the commercial screens. Some will fall in love with the film for its honest authenticity, while others will be put off by its unapologetic directness.

    The film begins with the title character, Daniel Blake going through an assessment in the unemployment office after his doctor has deemed him unfit for work due to a heart condition. Unfortunately, Daniel ends up in a paradoxical position, the likes which Kafka could have devised, where he is not concerned unhealthy enough to apply for sickness benefit and has to therefore apply for job seeker's allowance, coercing him into a pointless cycle of searching for jobs he cannot really take. In the middle of this absurd jungle of gray offices and red tapes, Daniel befriends Katie, a single mother of two in a similar situation. Daniel's cardinal sin in the bureaucratic world is his refusal to play by its rules, to fake and to pull the strings where needed.

    Loach is known for his simplicity in both style and narrative without ever coming close to minimalism. His simplicity is of a different kind, a simplicity of the heart on the level of the subject matter which is often social by nature. This simplicity gives room for the unfolding of story and character in their natural state which is of the utmost importance for Loach's intentions. At times warm and funny, at others raw and brutal, the story of "I, Daniel Blake" is hard to be dismissed for its authenticity. It will likely speak to most people as do the great realist novels of the 19th century. It is a simple voice with real thought and emotion behind it, saying something of relevance, straight out and loud. While the title of the film might pave way for quasi-libertarian interpretations of Loach's critique of the social benefits system, his intentions could not be clearer to those who have seen the film. The titular character is merely someone to carry the torch of solidarity; to Loach and others, he represents a mass of millions. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian wrote that the film "intervenes in the messy, ugly world of poverty with the secular intention of making us see that it really is happening, and in a prosperous nation." This is the simplicity which gives Loach's cinema its moral aura.

    Although many may feel put off by the film's direct social message and strong moral pathos, which can feel didactic or even demagogic at times, and it will not find its dearest fan in yours truly either, I think the film deserves acclaim for its integrity. The film does not hide its rhetoric or its message. After all, its "leftist agitation" may not be stranger than the ideology of upper middle class family life propagated by contemporary popular culture. The way I see it, "I, Daniel Blake" is more a personal expression of worry and concern rather than manufactured propaganda with an impersonal agenda. At worst the film might be preachy or sentimental, but at best it is the most authentic thing Ken Loach has done since "My Name Is Joe" (1998), a parallel work in the truest sense of the word. To put it bluntly, I am glad that "Jimmy's Hall" (2014) did not end up being the legacy Loach left for cinema; but "I, Daniel Blake" could very well be just that.
    helpful•62
    16
    • ilpohirvonen
    • Sep 21, 2016

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • June 9, 2017 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • United Kingdom
      • France
      • Belgium
    • Official sites
      • British Film Institute (BFI) (United Kingdom)
      • Cinéart (Belgium)
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Yo, Daniel Blake
    • Filming locations
      • Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England, UK
    • Production companies
      • Sixteen Films
      • Why Not Productions
      • Wild Bunch
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $260,354
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $18,682
      • Jun 4, 2017
    • Gross worldwide
      • $15,793,051
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 40 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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