A couple of days ago I went to see the film I, Daniel Blake. It is the most compelling film I’ve been lucky enough to see in a long time and I’m angry. I had heard it was a sad film; however true and honest to the benefit system of modern day Britain. I am fortunate enough to never have needed benefits even when currently I am entitled to them, however this does not mean I will never use them.
Both the main and supporting characters were amazing. They demonstrated exactly what it is like to go through the benefit system step by step along with a brief explanation of how the dreaded ‘Fit to Work’ scheme operates.
Daniel Blake is a middle aged man who has worked as a tradesman his whole life, he has recently been widowed and has just suffered a heart attack. We are then shown Blake at the doctors discussing his recovery plan and then being told he is not fit enough to work and under no circumstances should he put any strain on his heart. Now anyone would think that it would just be a small issue of sorting out sick benefits until he was well enough to work, however the film displayed the harsh realities of these situations. In order to receive the disability and sick benefits Blake went to the job centre to apply for them. However he was deemed ‘fit to work’ by a health company (which we would know as ATOS). Blake was asked many questions about his health, mostly nothing to do with heart. Therefore he would not receive any disability or sick benefits.
In that moment I felt extreme sadness for the people who go through this every day. You hear ridiculous stories on the media about people in comas who have received letters to tell them they have been deemed fit to work and it really makes me wonder how these companies who carry out the assessments can possibly get away with it? Even if they wanted to work, which many of them do, what actual use are they to employers if they are not as capable as the rest of the workforce? This would only cause more stress on the ill person, which in thousands of cases in the UK has led to premature, often unnecessary death.
Blake’s next and only option was to apply for Jobs Seekers Allowance (JSA) if he wanted to obtain any sort of income. Without this he would be pretty much homeless. Aside from the film diverging into the topic of many middle aged people not knowing how to access the internet (which is a huge problem in itself), it explained that applying for JSA is in fact solely online now. Luckily for him he managed to fill all these forms in through the help of many different people.
Now everyone in the cinema is thinking well at least now finally this guy is going to be given a break. OH NO….
To continuously received JSA every week you must be actively looking for work, and you may be sanctioned (payments stopped) if you do not provide evidence of this or you turn down jobs. Now Daniel Blake would hand out his CV to employers and he was actually offered a job. However as stated before he could not actually take this job because medically he was not allowed, and he could put himself or others into danger. Therefore Blake was sanctioned for not providing evidence and for turning down a job. His JSA was stopped and the rest of the film displays his downfall over the next month or so where he sells all his possessions to keep on top of bills. Blake eventually becomes very sick.
Near the end of the film Blake decides to appeal the decision made and goes to court. Everything begins to look hopeful for him as he has a great lawyer and the way things stood he could not possibly lose. However, Blake joined the many thousands of others in the UK, dying prematurely through stress and exhaustion of the benefit system. He suffered a heart attack in the toilets before his court hearing and could not be resuscitated.
The film left me feeling very hollow and the thought of how many others this is currently happening to. It sickens me that someone leading an ordinary leave can very quickly be thrown into poverty by the click of a button. We need more people to stand up to this, attend demonstrations, speak their mind on social platforms whether it be blogging or Facebook. It needs to be discussed and it needs to be stopped. I felt such a strong sense of community in that cinema, it was the first time I had witnessed people applauding after a film. They were applauding one man’s fight that was probably very similar to their own. Complete strangers talked to each other after the film, sharing their stories. I left quite quickly as I felt very out of place and how could I possibly relate? Although now I think I should have stayed. I want to know more and I want to help.
Now this maybe wasn’t the review you expected but you just need to see the film to understand, even if you have to stream it online.
10/10 for complete and utter brutal honest truthfulness. If this doesn’t stick in your mind then nothing will.
Re-Discovering me 