FILM.
I, DANIEL BLAKE
2016 | DIRECTED BY KEN LOACH
This spring I cancelled my $500/mo. private health insurance because they refused to cover my medication.
Their first denial was because I didn’t provide enough bloodwork.
After I sent that in, they denied my appeal because I didn’t provide enough medical history.
After I sent that in, they denied my re-appeal because I hadn’t tried a different medication. Except I had.
After I sent that in, I was informed I had exhausted my appeals and that the denial decision was final.
Nearly everyone I know has a story or several like mine.
I, Daniel Blake captures this toil within faceless bureaucracy, infuriating, kafkaesque, dehumanizing, so painfully well, through the eyes of an aging widower with a heart as big as it is bad.
I can’t believe how good this is or how seldom I hear it talked about.
Why did I take so long to start watching Ken Loach films? I knew he was the working-class hero of cinema but damn, this is as powerful as any manifesto I’ve read.