Since the millennium in Britain, there’s been this steady process of gentrification of not just working-class areas, but of the workingman’s social environment. No place has seen a greater transition than the pub scene. The old, misty boozers, with cigarette smoke pervading the warm air, the burgundy carpets, and gaudy curtains have gradually been replaced by that of the gastropub. The gastropub is the enemy of the common man; with an overzealousness for Google Reviews, they serve beer-battered cod with triple-cooked chips and overpriced lager. They’ve scrapped the darts boards and the pool tables, and have replaced the vintage wallpaper with faux bookshelves.
Each year, the opposition to the desolation of a once treasured establishment dwindles, and some literally die on their traditionalist hills, while others become indoctrinated by the scented candles and logos in the larger foam. Yet, in the face of all of this change, one man will sit, quietly propping up the bar at an old-school pub, sipping his ale before wandering over to the fruity to pop some shrapnel in the slot that he’ll invariably lose. He’s the gastropub Antichrist, whose purism is, well, just that, too pure. That man is Ken Loach. Never will you catch him eating beer battered fish of any kind, and he prefers his chips cooked just once. He’ll stand with the whites, blacks, and the browns so long as they represent the forgotten people, the underclass who’ve been neglected by the government of the day.
A legendary veteran director, Loach is a man of the people who has made some true British classics in his time. From Kes to I, Daniel Blake, he’s become the godfather of British kitchen kink dramas, and here are some of his best movies…
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5 Riff-Raff
Channel Four Films
Starring Robert Carlyle and Ricky Tomlinson, 1991’s Riff-Raff is a comedy-drama that flies the flag for Loach’s socialist, left-leaning tendencies. It tells the tale of a Glaswegian ex-convict, Stevie (Carlyle), who travels down to London in search of work, and begins a job on a construction site, striking up a romance with singer, Susan (Emer McCourt) in the process. It depicts the torrid conditions of some British working-class citizens, and this undying resilience and spirited belief that things can always be worse.
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4 The Wind that Shakes the Barley
Element PicturesPathe
A far cry from the usual British, working-class grit, The Wind that Shakes the Barley is a gorgeous but brutal masterpiece. Brothers Damien (perfectly played by Cillian Murphy) and Teddy (Padraic Delaney) decide to rise up against the control and brutality of the British army in their provincial town in County Cork, following the death of their friend who is mercilessly killed by the Brits. It is a movie that captures the story of two brothers and their IRA battalion as they fight for their country’s independence in the Irish Civil War. The Wind that Shakes the Barley won Loach the 2006 Palme d’Or.
3 Sorry We Missed You
Entertainment One
Sorry We Missed You is an on-screen exploration of a working family pushed to breaking point. A husband and wife work all hours God gives them as a delivery driver, and carer respectively, while both parents are operating in low-skilled jobs, the pair are in a continuous battle to settle debts following the financial crash of 2008 and to provide for their young family. It lays bare the UK’s benefit trap, and the fact the minimum wage simply does not match living wage standards. It’s a shocking, anger-provoking portrayal of a hard-working family neglected by a capitalist state more concerned with lining the pockets of the wealthy than feeding the mouths of the poor.
2 I, Daniel Blake
BFI
2016’s I, Daniel Blake captures the exact quintessence of a Ken Loach film and went on to scoop the 2016 Palme d’Or. A heart-attack survivor, told he’s unfit to work by medical professionals, is stuck in a vicious circle of a benefits system he allegedly isn’t eligible for. Struggling to make ends meet, Daniel Blake’s (Dave Johns) circumstances become increasingly desperate, as he takes a stand against a flawed system and government that fails to protect and look after those that are most vulnerable. Running concurrently with Daniel’s struggle is the story of a single-parent, Katie (Hayley Squires), and her two children, who have been forced to up-sticks and move to Newcastle, North-East England, as they too are failed by the benefits system.
I, Daniel Blake offers a moving depiction of a group of misrepresented, misunderstood people who have continuously been let down by the state. Daniel’s frustrations are palpable, and his and Katie’s experiences are undoubtedly relatable to an alarming number of people in the UK. I, Daniel Blake is a cry-out for reform, it gives a voice to the otherwise unheard, and examines the true state of an uncompromising, heartless, box-ticking structure that casts misery, and poverty upon so many.
1 Kes
United Artists
Loach’s Kes, based on the 1968 novel A Kestrel for a Knave, is a British kitchen sink drama, a type of film that typically pictured angry young men, disillusioned by the country. Kes is a beautiful illustration of a Yorkshire teen, a troubled youth and pariah both at school and in his local area. Bullied at his state comprehensive, shunned, neglected, and in-essence, abused by his cold-hearted mother and brother, Billy Casper finds solace and a kind of sanctuary when he begins to look after, and eventually houses a pet Kestrel. Kes is a moving account of a boy who doesn’t quite conform to societal norms, and seemingly has no real place in the factions within the school. As tough as it is, the film is ultimately a beautiful portrayal of the power nature can have on us, and how a small amount of love can thoroughly change one’s perspective on life.
