plato's cave two (being a film journal)

ken loach - i, daniel blake - 2016

lately have been thinking quite a bit about ken loach, mike leigh and alan clarke. great british filmmakers. would love to get the alan clarke boxset to rewatch films like the firm (with gary oldman) which i saw in the mid nineties and it never left my mind. one hell of a film! also re-watching mike leigh as always, as his films are so rewarding over multiple viewings. his last film mr. turner is one of the most outstanding films of the last few years. i get the feeling people didn't notice that?

i had never watched films by ken loach except kes, and was very excited to see i, daniel blake after seeing the trailer and reading about it.  such a subtle and lovely film, very sad in a way, in a way that is gratifying to be exposed to if you have experienced tragedy at some point in yr life.  dave johns and hayley squires are really quite something, they take your breath away as actors.

also, have been watching films shot by the irishman robbie ryan lately. this chap doesn't mess around. some films my friends mr. spell and morely recommended to me recently were shot by him : american honey, catch me daddy and philomena. he also shot fish tank which i didn't like much but thought fassbender played a classic dirt bag in, perhaps always necessary for the art of cinema to have dirt bags along with angels?

one last observation - the moments shot on the street in this film were quite stunning in their grittyness and everydayness.  reminded me of chantal akerman's news from home or ernie gehr's nyc work, or the french connection. this was covered elsewhere on this blog a bit.