Directed by Ken Roach, I Am Black won the Palme d'Or at the 69th Cannes Film Festival after its release in 2016. The film tells the story of what happened to a very ordinary citizen in the British political system, with Daniel Blake as the main character, because of heart problems, was told by the doctor that he could no longer work, but because of the government's relief payments, there was a series of problems, when he hesitated to appeal, he met Katie, a single mother who was also forced by the system, and gave them great care in life, so in the end they were willing to give Black a warm home.
One. Kind and enthusiastic people with ugly indifference
After watching this film, I was deeply touched, simply talk about this kind, upright Blake, in the film with a lot of details of life, his attitude towards his neighbors, erected an ordinary but great person, the treatment of people who have been tolerant and caring, but when he himself encountered the problem of rescue money not being judged, he has been insisting on it alone. Like a mountain, he held up a world for Katie, who was also a little person, and helped Katie and her two children again and again, no matter what it was. He treated the people around him like an inexhaustible bonfire, and although he had the helplessness of being oppressed in the face of the government, he could not resist his persistence.
Then there is Katie, he is not like Blake, after a series of hardships, she chose to surrender, for a single mother, it is really difficult to persevere, when she called the supermarket security guard, we know that she can't hold on, and the last person she wants to see is Blake, that is, she has a deep guilt for Blake, ashamed of his help and encouragement, but then it is because of Blake that she continued to insist, and finally helped Blake.
There was also the manager of the supermarket, who had let her steal things in her sympathy for Katie, but did not have the courage to fight against the social system, not only him but also the people who looked at them after Blake's many disappointments with the government, scribbling on the wall outside the government department, the one who came out and said he was a hero, and indeed Blake was a hero, with the courage to fight the government, but it was useless. Why Black died was Britain's indifferent welfare system and rigid bureaucracy and those who did not have the courage.
Those who are really indifferent are none other than officials under the bureaucracy, minions. Blake was repeatedly left out by welfare agencies, those indifferent security guards, the rigid implementation of the system, without a hint of flexibility, when he saw these people, it seemed as if his heart had sunk to the bottom.
After Blick's death, the neighbor woman read Blake's words, which he had always wanted to say before he was alive, and when every appeal was rejected, Blake would always touch his bare head, and I think this is also what he is saying that he is being patient and has a glimmer of hope for the system. Although he had a heart attack, he did not die because of it, but the British political system, like a chain, was put on Blake's body, and little by little he was exhausted for his last life.
Two. Humanitarian prominence
The film profoundly exposes the lives of the citizens at the bottom of society and the decadent politics of the upper classes. The director focuses the lens on the helpless and humorous life of the low-level citizens, allowing them to reproduce the scene in front of the audience, and exposing their pity and humility to the world without reservation. Not only that, but the oppression that brought them was not only the difficulties of life and the complicated and decadent system of the government, but also the progress of the era, when Blake applied for the bailout, he did not use the computer, but also stayed in the era of using pencils, this kind of meaningless resistance in the era, and finally ended in failure.
Presented in a realistic style, this film reflects on the social system more clearly, but it is not only the exposure and criticism of the cold and rigid political system in Britain, in which I also see the humane care between the citizens at the bottom, so that the audience knows that there is a strong humanistic care in this care, and the personality of each bottom citizen contains huge feelings, and this feeling is particularly prominent in this society. The strong contrast in watching the film is a strong sense of substitution.
Three. Realistic audiovisual language
There is a detail in the film is those small wooden fish, these small fish are hung in his own home, the neighbor's home, appeared many times, and later Blake told the woman about his deceased wife when the neighbor's house was eating, in fact, unsurprisingly, she was also a kind person, after the wife was ill, he said that the wife seemed to have a sea in her head, so the wooden fish were him. He loved his wife like water in relation to fish.
Then again, he did not compromise on the struggles he made about the difficulties of life. Most of the warm light is used when the neighbor's house in the film, and the warm environment in the picture is also outside, no matter what you experience, coming back will bring a little warmth to these low-level characters. Shallowly speaking, the director is talking about the unfair treatment of Blake's personal, but in a deeper sense, this is a reflection of social phenomena, the upper class is using warm houses, with comfortable words, and the small people at the bottom are not as good as dogs although they are human beings, which is also the human rights demanded by Blake. In the downside, the ruthlessness of the system wears down the humanity of the upper levels, and the warmth of human nature can only be seen at the bottom.
After Blake sold all the furniture, Katie's daughter came to him, and when Blake opened the door, he could see the cold wall behind him, the blue wall full of infinite indifference, it was like the social system that Blake was fighting against, and the house was like his cage, someone relied on Blake, but he had nothing to rely on, no matter where he was alone to face the cold that went deep into the bone marrow, the arrival of the little girl took him out of the house, and also brought him close to the warm "home".
epilogue
The director shot in the whole film with a very simple, but unexpectedly sharp, to the point, to the audience to bring a shock to the heart. Can I help you with a little girl? Breaking the wall inside Blick, who had been helping others, was saved for the first time in that cold room. It is very ordinary but also very real, although the reality is cruel, but people also hope to find a little warmth from it. In the indifferent social system, the most marginal people are invisible to us, and a film causes us to reflect on this phenomenon that we do not know but actually exists, and should also question our reality, leaving unlimited space for the audience to think.