I, Daniel Blake poster
"I Am Blake" has poked the resonance point of many people from the black screen at the beginning.
Blake applies for an employment allowance and needs to answer the staff's questions, but those questions have been going around in circles, and Blake claims that he has a heart condition and can go straight to the subject, but the staff is like "artificial mental retardation" on the mobile phone, and will only follow the procedure.
In "When Happiness Knocks", the protagonist likes to use some words to describe several stages of his life.
Arrested by fate
And "I Am Black" uses the opening 2 minutes of more than 2 black screens to outline the only stage of Blake's life for 100 minutes, which is to constantly be toyed with by various offices.
For example, Blake does not use his computer to fill out the application form online, and the staff tells him that there is a dedicated hotline for people with print disabilities, but he must make an appointment online.
Judging from Blake's physique and his temper, he should have been a tough guy when he was young, but now he is tormented by cumbersome processes and updated and iterative technology.
Tough guy doesn't mean bullying the weak, on the contrary, he lends a helping hand when the Katie family is in a desperate situation, and the two comfort each other and form a bond like the unrelated bond in "Thief Family".
It's like a family
When Blake was playing with Katie's son, he once asked him a question, asking about sharks and coconuts, which one kills more?
The correct answer Blake gave was coconut. The intention of setting this question is actually more obvious, and a tough guy like Blake will not be afraid when he encounters a shark or a flood beast.
However, the status quo of Blake and Katie is like a coconut that suddenly fell, and when they approached, they did not find a threat, and once they fell, they found that it was a fatal blow, and they were unable to fight back.
The most shocking scene in the movie is that when Katie is collecting food at the rescue center, because she is too hungry, before the pasta is delivered, she opens the can and stuffs the food into her mouth, which does not occur in the war years, but in the so-called well-welfare "Peaceful Prosperity".
Shame on you because of gaffes
Neither Blake nor Katie can use each other as a lifesaver, as they are trapped in the swamp and can only sink together. People have different views on their fate. Some will blame them for going into the swamp, and some will criticize the land that made the swamp.
Director Ken Lodge belongs to the latter, when "I Am Black" was released, he was 80 years old, but he was still running like a hot-blooded youth at the bottom of society, speaking for them and fighting for them.
Ken Lodge won the Palme d'Or at the 69th Cannes Film Festival for this film, and the award was controversial. Some film critics believe that the film is too blunt and lacks cinematography, which may also have a certain basis.
Ken Lodge's perspective on the underworld, objectively closing the perspective of some other classes, is a relatively "authoritarian" approach.
Positive just society
Ken Lodge himself is also caught between the dual identities of director and social activist, resulting in his films having both cinematic and instrumental attributes. Thinking that "I Am Black" is not worthy of the Palme d'Or, it is probably that the tool attribute of this film is greater than the attribute of the movie.
But I personally think from another point of view, since film can be used as a means of business, there is no need to criticize it as a tool for social activity. Movies don't have to be everyone's "gods."
If you start from the sensibility, in fact, I hope that "I Am Black" can play its instrumental attributes and achieve repercussions at the social level. Just as "The Melting Pot" is to the law, "The Thief of Years" is to Wynn Street. This makes more sense for the tool itself than for a Palme d'Or.